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are some older questions and answers from Emily's mailbox.
Q: Bugs in the compost? A: A good healthy compost will have bugs and insects. That's what it is all about. Some will be microscopic and you'd be amazed how many. Others will be large and the larvae will upset you. Do not worry, they are there doing their job in breaking down decaying debris. Q: No earthworms? A: Don't worry, your compost is probably too warm/hot which is good. Earthworms like it cool so when you "cool" compost the worms will do the work. Q: My compost seems cold all the time. I turn it. How can I get it "cooking" more? A: Turning is excellent and adding more "greenies" - grass clippings, trimmings, prunings or anything fresh; also fresh kitchen scraps will do the trick. Q: I recently moved to Tallahassee and have started a compost bin (small 10 gal Rubbermaid with holes) and I was planning to add red worms to help the process. Are they necessary? Will it get too hot here to add them? A: Yes , if you are going to compost in a bin, red worms would help the
process greatly. It then is called vermicomposting. Q: What can grow in organic horse compose? A: I would not grow anything directly in horse compost. It is very seedy as it does not go through the number of stomachs a cow has for a digestive system. It really needs to be aged and mixed with other compost or lots of soil. It needs to mellow and breakdown a lot. Then most anything can be grown with the horse compost. Q: I have a question regarding composting grass clippings. I wanted to begin composting primarily to dispose of my grass clippings in a useful way, but my lawn is treated with fertilizer and herbicides. Is it ever safe to use those clippings in the composting process? If I cut my grass several times after using the herbicide, is it then safe to begin composting the grass clippings? Or does the herbicide "saturate" ALL the grass as it grows? A: Sadly, I would not compost any plant material that has been treated
with a herbicide. The residual effect is found years later. One never
knows when the side effects will diminish. That's what makes a herbicide
so good. Q: You say you can use shredded paper in your compost, since I shred a lot of my mail. Is it safe to add to my compost pile? What about newspapers? How fine a shred? A: In shredding newspapers for the compost I would take them down to about 1/4 to 1/8th of a sheet. Remember the smaller the area the easier it is to decompose. Mail.....depending if it is colored ink or not...no glossy paper and especially no staples. The glue on the envelopes I suspect is biodegradable. No colored papers. I use to line the bottom of my compost bin with newspapers in their given size to prevent leakage etc.... and that over time just was eaten up by the worms.....the best part. Q: We just bought our first house about five yrs ago. I have had my hands full getting the soil level high enough to keep the water away from the house. I have started several compost piles during that time but they never seem to cook down. The property does not really "dry out" till mid May (or later). Is there anything that I can do to improve the compost cooking? A: Compost that is wet or moist needs dry material added to it. Like
leaves.....shredded newspapers might help. Covering with a black tarp or
burlap might help. Anything to get that temperature up..... Some times I
have added 10-10-10- to a pile that is not performing well but then again
this is a synthetic fertilizer and not organic. You could add some horse
or cow manure. Q: Could you please tell me how to eliminate the fly problem around my compost bin? If I can't do something about that problem, I'll have to stop composting, which will break my heart. The flies are all over my patio and the bin is about 20 feet away from the patio. I do keep the vegetable food waste covered with grass clippings and the bin is in the only space I can keep it. A: Flies may be a problem in a compost bin that is too wet and perhaps
they are being attracted to something that should not go into composting.
Be sure you are not adding any fats/meats/greases or oils of any kind. Q: My son has started raising a steer to show in the local FFA show. I guess you can see where this e-mail is going. I have started a compost pile with "Roger's" (name changed to protect the steer) wastes, shavings, hay, any anything else I find in the yard. I'm not sure if this is all I need, how often should I turn it, how do I keep the flies away? As you can see I really need help with this project. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. A: Composting is most beneficial (see above) and it sounds like you have a good source of materials to work with. You should need a balance of greens and browns.... green is anything fresh and recent (like Roger's patoodies ) and the browns can come from dried hay/grass/leaves (the carbons)..Keep moderately moist and turn to get it cooking. If it is too dry add some water, and likewise if very wet from rain and your additives....add some carbons (browns). Now, kitchen scraps will be a great additive, just be sure to keep the fats and dairy products out of the collection, and do not add domestic droppings from dogs and cats (too parasitic) . Yes, turn frequently to keep the air circulation..... Add some soil for microorganisms to do their job of breaking down the particles. And this will also keep the flies from multiplying. |
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