At the beginning I was turning my 4x4x4 pile of mostly pulverized leaves and grass once a week to aerate and moisten it with a hose.worked great, I got her up to a steady 135 F despite nights in the low 20s.
Burned a thumb pretty badly two weeks ago, so shoveling was no longer an option. That's when I realized I'm addicted to promoting rot & missed spending time with my firstborn hot pile. It reminds me of tending fermenters and bioreactors in industrial microbiology class, where I learned to love monitoring and maintaining exponential growth until the product maxed out.
So I bought a bulb planting auger with a ling extension. Now every 3-4 days I drill about 20 2 inch diameter air shafts from the top deep into the core, add coffee grounds or minced kitchen waste, and a cup of water or bespoke yellow liquid to a few holes. After I fill everything in I drill diagonally to mix up the batch. Whole process takes about ten minutes.
I'm planning on turning the pile fully about every weeks now.
The auger was about 7 bucks. I highly recommend giving it a shot
by IceNine-Polymorph
6 Comments
Aerator*
Long extension*
Every 3-4 weeks*
Burnt thumb= typos*
https://preview.redd.it/sazr02fospdg1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95d095c8d43148fe620ca59c704d17b82feb8687
I use a gas powered one on my 3 bins from the top and love it!
Do you mind linking to the specific one you bought? I’ve avoided the cheap ones out of fear they were going to break quick.
Also, how strong of a drill are you using?
I love mine. I haven’t used my pitchfork in years. I keep it simple and drill down, and pull up. Breaks down the material o to smaller pieces and does an excellent job mixing everything.
Purchased on Amazon
Ljliudu 2”x 30” Auger Drill Bit fot Planting, Garden Plant Auger, Black
Standard 20v Dewalt battery drill.
Nickname is “The scrambler” and always toss some egg shells in first so you can chuckle to yourself about scrambling eggs.
At least that’s what I would do if I got my hands on one of those 👀
Great for geobins!