((Serious Gardening))

[Smittenroade]

Lol too funny

But on a more serious note...I found, what I think to be, just about the best information I could find on hot composting. It is alot of information but helped put everything together for me. I think I finally got a good grasp on this composting thing now.

Heres the link, take a look.

http://earth911.com/news/2007/04/02/nine-steps-to-hot-composting/

 

[Junkmanme]

Smittenroade,

VERY Interesting article. I have been considering a different method from my old "pile method". This article re-stimulated an old idea of mine.

I have some old, metal 55-gal. drums that I used in my "hoophouse" greenhouse for water storage (passive heat storage). They have, over time, developed leaks...so they need to be replaced. I may make doors in the sides of the barrels (for loading/unloading) and add more small holes to the barrels. I could then set them on a rack made of pipe inside pipe to roll the barrels for mixing. If I make the pipe-rack at the right height, I can roll a wheel-barrow underneath the rack to move the compost. (I might possibly also provide for a shelf to hold a screen to "sift" the compost.) This will be one of my Early Summer Projects. ( I enjoy welding and building such things.)

I think it would be sufficient to merely roll the barrels on the pipe-rack by hand. ( It wouldn't be difficult, however, to power them with an old washing-machine OR evaporative cooler motor using fan pulleys, fan-belts AND bicycle chains/gears.) With a barrel resting on a pipe which is slid over the pipe structure, the barrels should roll easily by hand....and it wouldn't be necessary to roll them more than 2 or 3 times a week. That should do a good job of mixing the compost and wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes each time.

I also think that the sun's heat absorbed by the metal of the barrels should assist in the process of composting. (It gets WARM here in the Summer...but seldom HOT at 6500 feet altitude.)

THANKS for the "link" to the article !!!

I need to improve my composting method.

-Junkmanme-

 

[alabama49]

I would like to try the composting in some plastic 55 gal barrels I have. However, since I live in the hot south, do you all think it would get too hot in the barrels for the compost to work?

 

[Junkmanme]

Quote:
I think they would work very well IF you drilled a LOT of 1/2 inch holes in them for air-circulation and rotate them occasionally.

See the earlier "link" provided by Smittenroade. GOOD info there.

 

[alabama49]

Well, I have plenty of barrels but gotta figure out how to rotate them as I don't have alot of upper body strength---guess I could kick one down a hill but then I'd have to get it back up again!!! LOL

 

[Smittenroade]

Quote:
Check this out, I found your answer!!!

http://www.instructables.com/image/FUOU654FH5HOQJT/Easy-Recycled-Compost-Barrel.jpg

The easiest most simple answer is usually the best. I mean who doesn't have a couple old tires just laying around? lol

 

[RioLindoAz]

Quote:

Ummm... How is this thread not closed?

 

[Smittenroade]

Quote:

Ummm... How is this thread not closed?

Why would it be? If you read it all, I am growing tomatoes, peppers, and sunflowers in my closet. What is wrong with hydroponics and hippies? Please leave your conjectures at the door and don't be a party pooper...

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Quote:

Ummm... How is this thread not closed?

Why would it be? If you read it all, I am growing tomatoes, peppers, and sunflowers in my closet. What is wrong with hydroponics and hippies? Please leave your conjectures at the door and don't be a party pooper...

X2 ... geez! Closet helps control moisture and heat, so it's easier to get the plants started. Just because someone buys grow lights, doesn't mean we're growing something illegal.

 

[Junkmanme]

Quote:
Why would it be? If you read it all, I am growing tomatoes, peppers, and sunflowers in my closet. What is wrong with hydroponics and hippies? Please leave your conjectures at the door and don't be a party pooper...

X2 ... geez! Closet helps control moisture and heat, so it's easier to get the plants started. Just because someone buys grow lights, doesn't mean we're growing something illegal.

Ha-Ha !!!

SOME "folks" just like to "stir-a-cowpie" to see IF it will "stink" !!! Ha-Ha !!!

I don't bother with the "grow-lights" on my seed-starting racks. I just use the regular 4 foot long florescent "shop lights". They work just fine for starting my tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and other plants that I don't seed directly in the garden....but "transplant" into the garden when the soil has warmed sufficiently. The "shop-lights" are a LOT CHEAPER and work fine for me.

Maybe "this thread" will be CLOSED....because we're "messin' with Mother Nature". It's NOT NICE to "fool" Mother Nature !!!

Ha-Ha !!!
-Junkmanme-