Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[vehve]

I turned the mass today, the right side is putting out a nice organic smell and is looking pretty uniformly brown. The left side had been burning like crazy, the middle looked almost charred. It was completely white, and dry as a bone. I added about five gallons of water, and gave it a proper turning. There was also a white layer of mold growing on all of it, and some interesting white shrooms.

 

[aart]

Just got back from a week long skiing trip. Compost has been fine, it was 40C in there. I'll give it a nice turn tomorrow.

shuusshshuusshshuusshshuussh....I miss skiing (busted up knees)

Quote:
Now the left side is now newer material right?
Wow, charred?!!

 

[vehve]

My dad has a bum hip, and he did okay on both skis and a snowboard. I forbid him from renting a telemark set though...

Yeah, charred is the best way to describe it. The core had turned completely white, it looked like it wood have been covered in ash. I don't think it's actually been burning, but it has been pretty hot in there. The left side is the newer stuff, yeah. I dumped some more rabbit poop and straw in there today, that should get the heat back up. I also just threw another couple of gallons of water in there just now, so I'm expecting a proper steam come morning.

 

[aart]

I like walking too much (tho some days even that is hard) to risk screwing the knees up any further.

Wonder if the white is mold?

 

[vehve]

I just read about it, apparently it's some sort of anaerobic thermofilic bacteria. Not something I want to have in there, apparently. At least I think what I'm seeing is actinobacteria. Might be something else too.

 

[aart]

Yeah could have gone anaerobic in a week without turning for air...not sure if that's a long term concern tho.

 

[vehve]

I'm not worried, it should make nice compost.

 

[lazy gardener]

Anaerobic will get the job done. Just more stinky.

 

[vehve]

The air temp is still staying way above what my air temp thermometer can measure, so the core is probably in the 65C range. I have about 100 liters of soil from last year that I still need to heat process, there's possibly some sunchoke in there, so I threw half of it in the bin now to try and kill anything still left in the soil. It was nice, rich and black to begin with, so it should make for some pretty awesome compost when it's done. There were also some tomato root clumps in there. I've tried to compost all the soil I've had in pots too, to add to the amount of compost I have, and to reintroduce nutrients to the soil itself. Now there's only about 50 liters left that needs to go in the bin, but I didn't want to cool it down too much at once. The right side should probably be emptied soon, the left side is starting to be pretty full, and I think I should stop adding to it before it starts to cool down. Then it can cook in peace while I'm building up a pile on the right side. That's a project for the weekend, I think. I should also make a hardware store run, I need a couple of gutters, one to direct water from the bunny hutch, and another to use as a base for salad growing. I've decided to plant salad in a wick watering system on the bunny hutch wall. I'll post some pictures later in the year once I get it set up.

 

[vehve]

Dumped the rest of the soil that needed cooking in the compost. I have no idea what the temp is, it seems it's been so high lately, that I think the thermometer has broken. I need to pick up a new one today.