The compost pile is heating up! It's working! I came home tonight and stuck a thermometer in the middle of the pile (actually toward the top since it's a short probe) and it registered just about 140! That and the pile's shrunk a good few inches already.
Of course I hadn't read enough to know what to look for (apparently 140 is pretty optimal) so I started turning it. I even got more newspaper and laid it out next to the pile and moved some of the middle to the other newspper. And since I'll be building two bins right next to each other, it will be the start of the next bin.
Speaking of which, the pallets should be here tomorrow thanks to my dad who's mostly retired. Hopefully I'll be able to build at least one bin tomorrow night.
The other comment I'll make about my compost pile is that it does have a slight smell, but not horrible or strong. I understand that's because it's too wet, though I didn't add any water and it didn't rain today. /shrug
Well, off to research where I can get 15x7 nylon netting with 6 inch holes for my trellis. So far I've found 12x7 at Territorial Seed Co., but I'm holding out for a single trellis for all my plants.
Enjoy your garden!
Awesome news about your compost pile!! That's great. I think most people have trouble having enough "greens" to get it to cooking. And from the size of your compost pile, you won't have any problems with that. Don't worry about it being too wet right now -- that's just from the moisture in the grass clippings.
ReplyDeleteOh did you check out Wally World on the trellis netting? That's where I found some. It was made of white nylon.
it could be the grasses itself. Ammonia smell = too wet, too green. Manure smell = grass decomposing rapidly. Just the way it goes, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, because grass mats up as it decomposes - well, as the firefang rapidly consolidates control over it - you might find it easier to turn if you stab your pitch for into the center of the pile in several directions/orientations before attempting to flip it. And if you think you're seeing smoke coming out of the center as you dig into the pile, you're probably not... most times those are just mold spores blowing away. Most times anyways...heh.