Hi everybody. Any active composters out there? Where do y’all keep the pile at? I started a pile a couple years ago and it’s more or less a lazy pile. I turn it sometimes but am not really organized in the way I layer or treat it otherwise.
I am wondering if it could potentially harbor bad pests or diseases? The pile is in my main home orchard area. It’s about ten feet from the closest tree, but there are a dozen trees or so in the general area. Could this be a problem? I read that the Plum Curculio likes to take residence in leaf litter and stuff like that. Could my compost pile be a home for critters like this? Thanks.
I have a Early Mc apple, 2 beds of blackberries, 2 beds of blueberries, 2 beds of raspberries, a strawberry bed, mulberry and eu plum planted near my compost pile.
That’s some nice looking compost. Do you actively care for that heap or just let it do it’s thing? Mine never looks like that. I have to dig down to get the nice brown crumbly stuff.
That first (up close pile) is my homemade compost pile that was started Dec 2022.
That second (middle pile) is woods compost i collected this winter. I did a post on that if you are interested.
The last pile (old hay bale walls) is one i started Dec 2023. It is where all our current scraps go… and will go all this year until Dec 2024 when i start a new pile for the next year.
When i start a new pile in Dec for the new year… i do nothing but pile stuff into it for a full year…
The next Dec… i start a new pile… and my old pile gets its first turnover. Between Dec and Spring… i may turn that pile 4-5 more times… to finish it. It will be looking like that… by doing nothing but piling it up for a year… then turning it over 5 or 6 times.
My lazy compost method. I have been doing this since the early 90s.
My current /active pile has old hay bale walls… those hay bales were used to protect my in ground fig the previous winter.
Once that active pile has been sitting for a year… when i do the first turnover i mix the old rotten hay bales into the compost mix. It all finishes nicely with just a few turnovers before spring.
In order to establish fruit tree berms on wet land, I combine composting and hugelkulture to layer piles in situ. After a year of layering branches, food waste, and leaves, I have a 4’ pile enclosed within an 8’ diameter cage. I top pile with a 5-gallon bucket of well-aged compost and plant tree into the top of this this pile. After another year, pile settles to about 2’. No wheelbarrowing or turning!
Did you start with a pond liner underneath? Or is that the original roofing material underneath? I have often day dreamed of growing on the roof as I scrape off the moss every year. How long have you been rooftop growing? Any tips? Or a thread to link?
I put a rubber membrane roof on and covered with leaves and green compostable scraps. I lost track but it is about 20 years. Make sure your rafters and walls are strong enough.
I have my compost in full shade so it goes very very slowly. Rarely gets hot, but my yard is tiny and don’t have a ton of options, however I thought the natural fungus under the live oak would help it, as my compost is mostly leaf litter, chicken manure and coffee grounds. The chickens get most of the kitchen scraps. I hear of people completing compost in 60 days but I have two piles and it’s about a year(ish) for one to complete
Do you mean it’s germinating weeds and tree seeds from the forest? Lol I’m curiously misunderstanding what you mean I think. I would be afraid to use that for that reason, otherwise I’d be digging around in my back woods too!
Compost happens…
A shaded and sheltered location with easy access and uphill and nearby where you will be distributing it to is good. Since the ground beneath it will be weed free and enhanced, it’s a great spot to plant a fruit tree after you harvest the compost too
