The Alberton Papers # 19
By Dick Darne 5-5-06
" In the end, we are all compost" A. Sloane
Today we will discuss composting for fun and profit. Some of us have green thumbs and can grow anything. Although I have tried, the best I can ever hope to be is a green thumb wannabe. I have tilled and cultivated successfully but the stuff just don’t grow for me. I did have some success with composting, but it was a financial disaster. After supervising the unloading of load after load of leaves, mixing, turning and watering (by hand with some paid help), I watched 8 yards of material rot down to a little over one yard (30 bags, retail=$2.00 ea, total=$60). Since I had invested $80 in hired help and donated all my time, I contacted the North Dakota Institute of Financial Technology, who kindly advised me to make a bigger pile, reduce my price and make it up in volume. I looked all around Alberton and saw more leaves than I could ever use, most of which is raked up and disposed of in ways other than composting by the citizenry, some of whom will then go to Missoula and buy compost. The same for grass clippings, of which a considerable amount just gets dumped somewhere. It sure looks like Alberton could be a net exporter of "Albie-compost"
I have been composting right here in Alberton for at least 15 years and have learned a few things. It don’t smell at all, ever, if you only use leaves, grass and old manure. A pile should have green stuff (nitrogen) and brown stuff (carbon). It needs moisture (not soaked) and air (oxygen). The more you can turn it, the faster it will work, but if you leave a pile of leaves alone it will take 5 years. When it’s working it gets hot (a pipe or rod shoved in makes a crude thermometer).
My record is 10 deg/day up to 168 deg, but Mr. Tocci actually had his erupt in flames from spontaneous combustion, resulting in a visit from the Fire Dept, resulting in a little excitement in our daily "humdrum existence".
After all these years, I have come to realize that the reward is not monetary, but the satisfaction of seeing what would normally go to waste be put to a good use. When the first graders came to my compost pile for a field trip, I finally got the big reward, recognition. If I had never accomplished anything worthwhile in my life, seeing those kids playing in the compost and thanking me for it was worth the price of admission.
Dick
aldermandarne@hotmail.com On-line http://albpap@blogspot.com/ 722-4575
By Dick Darne 5-5-06
" In the end, we are all compost" A. Sloane
Today we will discuss composting for fun and profit. Some of us have green thumbs and can grow anything. Although I have tried, the best I can ever hope to be is a green thumb wannabe. I have tilled and cultivated successfully but the stuff just don’t grow for me. I did have some success with composting, but it was a financial disaster. After supervising the unloading of load after load of leaves, mixing, turning and watering (by hand with some paid help), I watched 8 yards of material rot down to a little over one yard (30 bags, retail=$2.00 ea, total=$60). Since I had invested $80 in hired help and donated all my time, I contacted the North Dakota Institute of Financial Technology, who kindly advised me to make a bigger pile, reduce my price and make it up in volume. I looked all around Alberton and saw more leaves than I could ever use, most of which is raked up and disposed of in ways other than composting by the citizenry, some of whom will then go to Missoula and buy compost. The same for grass clippings, of which a considerable amount just gets dumped somewhere. It sure looks like Alberton could be a net exporter of "Albie-compost"
I have been composting right here in Alberton for at least 15 years and have learned a few things. It don’t smell at all, ever, if you only use leaves, grass and old manure. A pile should have green stuff (nitrogen) and brown stuff (carbon). It needs moisture (not soaked) and air (oxygen). The more you can turn it, the faster it will work, but if you leave a pile of leaves alone it will take 5 years. When it’s working it gets hot (a pipe or rod shoved in makes a crude thermometer).
My record is 10 deg/day up to 168 deg, but Mr. Tocci actually had his erupt in flames from spontaneous combustion, resulting in a visit from the Fire Dept, resulting in a little excitement in our daily "humdrum existence".
After all these years, I have come to realize that the reward is not monetary, but the satisfaction of seeing what would normally go to waste be put to a good use. When the first graders came to my compost pile for a field trip, I finally got the big reward, recognition. If I had never accomplished anything worthwhile in my life, seeing those kids playing in the compost and thanking me for it was worth the price of admission.
Dick
aldermandarne@hotmail.com On-line http://albpap@blogspot.com/ 722-4575
posted by aldermandarne | 10:50 PM
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