House I've moved to has a badly maintained compost heap.
Seem like its mostly grass cuttings piled up with a lot of pine needles.
I dug down to bottom and there was some usable compost but majority of it is compelelty solid and compacted in sheets of dried grass. (along with x2 giant dead rats 🐀)
How can I best make use of this/rescue this.
My though its to make another compost section next to it and try and turn it and mix it up/break up the solid bits. Then add a lot of fresh grass cuttings to try and restart the process.
Any other suggestion, is this salvageable?
by Tolkarin
11 Comments
Compost is always salvable.
Add pee, and mix in other stuff, such as waste for the kitchen, some moisture and you will start the heap again
It’s just compacted and dry. Break it up, add more greens like grass clippings and table scraps, and keep it wet. It could use things that keep the air flowing like twigs and cardboard bits too, or just frequent turning.
Stir it, add moisture and shredded leaves.
Fork it,
Treat as a brown and make a big pile.
You might wanna find some greens.. chicken or horse manure? 10 pounds of coffee ground isn’t gonna cut it.
Make as big a pile you can manage to turn once a month or once a week.
The rest of it – you probably only need some air canals and moisture like in a johnson-su bioreactor.
https://preview.redd.it/tkos898btusg1.png?width=818&format=png&auto=webp&s=95c1df3460833ddd0985cdbfbfcbfba54f19165d
You won’t get the same ideal circumstances, but maybe you can add some Pvc pipes for aeration.
These are meant to be removed in aboe pic but you get the idea. And water the pile every once in a while (or keep a tarp on it in the sun)
If you have space, use a shovel to move to pile over a few feet, adjusting for mix and moisture. If you don’t have to space, use a shovel to mix the pile in place, adjusting for mix and moisture.
Turn it, water it, let it cook
Let it rip
Pile it up, wet it down, thoroughly. Turn and mix. Will break down quickly once fully wetted.
Chop it up, add greens and stir it. You’re good to go.
Pee on it!