Organic Compost

[PBGardener]

Little bit of help and advice with the compost heap please.

I have just started / starting my compost heap.

Please just let me know where and if I am making any mistakes.

Container: Sturdy wooden box with holes on three sides for air passage and wooden door with holes for air passage.

Compost material:

Greens: Kitchen leftover uncooked leftover greens, vegetable and fruit peels and shavings.And lawn cuttings. Green fallen Leaves.

Browns: Chicken used straw and chicken poop (have chickens at home).

IS there anything else i should be using?

Now how should i be putting all this together. Should this all go into the compost heap as and when available or should i collect everything and put it on assigned days so that there is proper layering.

Thank you for your help.

PB.

Ps. What about the newspapers. Would they help.

[iskhan]

1) A container with holes in the bottom.
2) Green items i.e. daily kitchen wastage vegetables and fruits peals, grass cutting e.t.c.
3) Brown items i.e. Used tea, news paper, used boiled rice, wood powder, dry leaves, wood ash e.t.c.
4) Damp Soil layer after every Green items+Brown items
5) Ratio between Green items & Brown items is 2:3
6) Toss it every 2/3 weeks until it smell earthy.
Note: chicken manure is very strong it burn your plants until it well rotten and decompose

[Enriquecruz]

One of the most important secrets in organic gardening is tending to the soil. Soil is the main key to growth. If soil is rich in compost then anything which grows in it will be rich and abundant. When chemicals are added to the soil, the soil loses its fertility after a while. Natural ways to tend soil including allowing some insects, like earthworms, to be present in the soil. These worms, while moving around, 'till' the soil that allows air to enter beneath and allows the soil to remain fertile. The answer for how to compost is that the decomposition of plant remains and other dead natural materials help to make a simple, murky, powdery material that is very good for adding as manure to house plants or to enrich soil. It also helps in reducing the volume of garbage needlessly sent to landfills for disposal.

Some of the things you need to start your own compost are things like straw, dead flowers, shredded newspaper, leaves that have been dried. Some people forget to add these but they do make a difference and should be added.
Compost is the best material for growing plants as compost because it's made for lots of huge organic matter that produce many vitamins for plants. This is the safest material to grow plants.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

I have a compost pit 8X8 feet. All dry leaves, greens, grass clippings, pruning, Cow-dung, wood shavings and some urea goes in it. Come September the upper layer is put aside and remaining compost is removed and bagged for use throughout the year.

[Enriquecruz]

If the compost bin is the heart of an organic garden (it is), it's important to get it right if you want high quality organic compost. Don't buy costly high-tech compost bins from a garden centre. Forget about building bins, with great labour, out of lumber. Instead, let Nature do the work.

www.pottingblocks.com

[cyberkings]

What if I use a pit hole in a corner of my garden instead of compost bin? Would it work the same way?

[Izhar]

if you have trees or shrubs nearby then their roots will grow in it for nutrients.. you can use an empty wooded crate which is used for fruits.. it also allows air circulation in the compost..

[cyberkings]

Izhar sb.,

Thanks a lot for your advice. I'll place 2-3 crates in the garden and start filling them from today. Will be requesting a couple of neighbors also to 'contribute'

Regards,

Shahid

[KAMasud]

Why not go cheap and just use steel netting and i dont mean mosquito netting. Security steel netting starts from 1/4 and goes up. All Chinese by the way. Cut out rectangle pieces of what ever size. Tie the four sides together in a box shape with GI wire and thats it, finished compost bin. Ventilating holes and all.

[naheerameer]

Adding earthworms to the compost pile speedup the composting process (Vermicomposting). Worm castings or worm manure itself is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner.

Normal earthworms I read are actually useless if composting. Their speed of eating scraps is too slow to have a major impact and they are not surface dwellers either. If vermicomposting, go for red wriggler worms.
And if you find these, please share with me as well!