Making a compost pile : ) (((Lets see how many different words I can use for poo :p

This is our second compost pile now, the first one turned out ok, but we didn't have any manure at the time, which is pretty important to help the matter get hot enough to break down more quickly. However compost seems to be quite forgiving, even if you have no poop available, vegetable scraps still break down well too, it just takes longer & it seems to be a different process (more research & experimenting imminent...)
This time we did get out hands on some manure :D my ex bosses (who are now friends) welcomed us to gather us much horse & cow poo as we wanted & even bagged up some pigeon poop for us, how lovely ^_____^ We wandered around the paddocks scooping up droppings for a while & by the end we had 3 grain bags worth of cow, 2 of horse & the bosses gave us 3 of pigeon. We could only fill the bags 3/4 of the way (that crap's heavy 'X ) so I would estimate we left with around... 150kg of dung! yay!
We hauled it home in the back of the ute & later got started constructing the compost pile, here are progress shots-

This is the base. We used pea straw, but any kind will

do, we wanted to avoid wheat, barely etc because of

my allergies :s So step one is to lay down a good bed

of straw no less than 1meter x 1meter in size, the pile

will need to be at least 1 cubic meter when complete or

it won't break down quite right.

This is the first addition of manure, spread it evenly over
the base, but not too thick, you want to end up with much
more straw than poop otherwise the matter will break
down too quickly & become too hot & it will lose mass.
The straw also allows airflow, this is an aerobic compost-
ing method, so good airflow is very important ;)

A couple of layers later (around the middle) we added
all the vegetable scraps we had from the kitchen.
Almost anything can be added to a compost pile,
absolutely avoid things that won't break down though,
like metal, plastic, etc, but shredded paper, cardboard
& tissues along with any fruit & vegetable scraps are
ok. Teabags & eggshells are fine too (do check the
teabag for staples tho) At this stage we also added
worm tea, this is just the liquid that runs out from our
worm farm, it's a dark liquid comprised of water,
worm castings, worm pee & I don't know what else :p
This acts as an inoculant & adds important beneficial
microbes to the pile. You can also use human urine,
a old semi-rotted carcass (omg gross) or any
combination of the three.

This is near the top, I lost count of how many layers we
did, but by the end it was pretty tall : ) As mentioned
above we used horse, cow & pigeon manure in our pile,
but pretty much any droppings are ok to use, including
pig & chicken poop ;)

Laaa!~ This is the finished pile, it took us quite a while,
maybe close to an hour, maybe just over (not really sure
:p) but we did it! :D

The final step is to give the pile a good hosing, microbes

like water & it helps everything spread throughout the

straw to mix & mingle :) We hosed away at it for a few

minutes trying our best to get it wet through, but without

completely saturating then it.

We then covered it with a tarpaulin (any waterproof

cover will do) & just leave it to do it's thang.

The pile will need to be turned in 4 days & then every

second day after that for 16 -18 days, then (if all goes

well) it should be ready! The compost is ready when

everything has completely broken down & it will look

& smell like rich, beautiful soil. Really good compost is

perfect for starting seeds, adding around plants in the

garden, spreading over new garden beds, & so on : )

RainboW :p

So that was our adventure for today, we did also plant some seeds, grabbed some more supplies from the hardware store, & Eli got started building a small table for us to use when we plant seeds (squatting/kneeling gets tiresome :p)


As a final note, we learned about this composting method via a DVD called 'Permaculture Soils' by Geoff Lawton. We bought the DVD HERE, but I'm sure many online shops will be selling it :) This DVD is brilliant, it' full of all sorts of useful information about how to create your own permaculture garden (with a focus on soil obviously) I'd highly recommend it for anyone.


DVD trailer:

So if you're interested in the wonders of compost & it's functions & uses it may be worth researching a little to learn about how you can make your own special pile ^___~
Hope you all enjoyed our compost adventure & that maybe this will help/inspire people to start their own :D


Ja ne~