Kate Flood

Sergio Cunha wrote:Hi Kate!
Welcome!

I have a question: Can I direct compost cow manure? I live in a tropical country. My neighbor has one cow and allows me to take his cow manure. I've tried to make hot composting but turning it is too straining on my back so I'd like to make direct compost with that manure.

Thank you!

Hi Sergio,
You might like to give sheet composting a go with the cow manure. Here's an edited extract from my book The Compost Coach which explains the process

Sheet composting is an in-situ horizontal composting method that’s sometimes referred to as lasagne compost. It’ is a slow (cold) aerobic style of compost made on the earth. I think it’s a wonderful style of compost creation for a number of reasons:

• It can be added to a little at a time as organic matter becomes available from your kitchen, garden or local community.
• It can be used in both small or large gardens and in raised beds.
• It helps to smother weeds and “‘grows”’ soil right where you need it.
• It’s a cost- effective way to expand a garden.
• It’s a practical and easy way to decompose a lot of garden waste, materials such as grass clippings, prunings, and pulled out spent plants.

As the compost pile can be positioned directly on top of your lawn. This style of composting is quite like no- dig gardening as it can be positioned directly on top of your lawn. Where these styles differ is that, instead of using finished compost in the garden bed, in sheet composting you’ are actually making the compost in the garden bed from scratch using alternate layers of carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich materials. These layers will smother the grass and build fertility.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to sheet compost:
1. It’ is best started at the beginning of autumn, as because it the material can take up to 6 six months to decompose. By Spring you should be able to plant straight into the garden bed.
2. Decide where you want your sheet compost to go. You can apply it directly onto bare soil or onto your lawn.
3. If you’re sheeting composting over a lawn, prepare the site by doing a short mow or removing any persistent weeds by hand.
4. Sprinkle an organic fertiliser over the area to feed any remaining weeds and grass, and water well. (You might be thinking ‘WHAT?! Why would I you want to feed and water the weeds and grass I’m aiming to eradicate?’ Well, the reason why this step is important is that it helps to encourages them to grow, and then they’ll rot more quickly underneath the layers of carbon.)
5. Now place down overlapping cardboard on the ground to prevent photosynthesis and to kill the grass and weeds below. If you have invasive grasses like kikuyu or couch growing in your lawn, make sure you apply the cardboard or newspaper generously. Make sure there aren’t any are no holes and with all plastic tape removed on the cardboard, otherwise- this is important as the layers of cardboard won’t bind together, and if plastic tape is left on, which means the weeds may grow through. You can also use thick layers of newspaper (at least eight sheets). This needs to overlap by a couple of centimetres so that the weeds or grass underneath cannot push through.
This thick carbon layer will prevent photosynthesis and kill the grass and weeds below. If you have invasive grasses like kikuyu or couch growing in your lawn, make sure you apply the cardboard or newspaper generously. You must be sure that there are absolutely no gaps left between the layers to prevent advantageous plants growing through.
6. Thoroughly wet this foundation layer, and then cover it with a 3-cm (1-inch) deep layer of nitrogen-rich ingredients (like such as manure or chopped green plant materials.
7. Cover the nitrogen layer with a 3-cm (1-inch) deep layer of carbon-rich ingredients (such as brown leaves, straw, shredded newspaper, ripped paper, aged sawdust, or wood chips) etc.
8. Apply enough water to make the organic matter moist, but not soaking.
9. Repeat this layering process as materials become available. For the juicy nitrogen layers, you can use kitchen scraps (if rodents or scavengers are not a problem in your yard), green garden waste like (such as plant clippings and hedge trimmings cut or chipped into small pieces), cafe coffee grounds, weeds without seeds, grass clippings, pelletised chicken manure, fresh animal manure, or seaweed (this list is not exhaustive - – get creative!). Always make sure that you top off your nitrogen with a dry, fibrous, carbon layer to prevent flies from becoming a problem.
10. The height of this bed will vary, depending on the volume of materials you have available. You do need a minimum of 50 cm (20-inch) of inputs to provide enough bulk to plant into when it has all decomposed.
11. The bed needs to be kept moist to allow for speedy microbial decomposition, but if you live in a rainy area then you may need to cover your bed with a tarpaulin for a period of time to prevent the ingredients from getting too wet and becoming anaerobic.
12. The bed is ready for planting when there are no longer any recognisable layers, and it has all turned into crumbly compost that smells like a forest floor. You’ll need to be patient as this can take up to six months, or longer if the weather is dry.
If you’re feeling impatient and want to start planting out the bed a bit earlier, then you can cover the decomposing layers with a 5cm (2-inch) layer of cured compost and plant directly into this. Alternatively, if you don’t have this amount of compost available you can dig into the top layers and add pockets of cured compost at a depth of 5cm and plant into these areas. Make sure you do not puncture the carbon foundation layer, otherwise weeds will grow back through.
13. One final point - – make sure you manage the edge of sheet- composted beds, as because running grasses and creeping weeds on the periphery will want to sneak back in.

Hope this helps
Kate

Mark Beard wrote:Hi Kate!

I’ve never read your book, but I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to take advantage to your expertise and experience!


So, I have a question:

What are your thoughts about using shredded paper in compost?  I have a business office and we have to shred and throw out a lot of documents.

Can this material be used in composting? My knowledge is very basic.  I assume shredded paper is a good Carbon source so, all I’m missing is a nitrogen source? If that’s true, what do you recommend?

I wouldn’t be using this for gardening or food. But I have the space at my property, and I produce plenty of shredded paper so I just thought turning it back into dirt would be better than it ending up in a landfill.

Is human urine an adequate source for Nitrogen?  One more thing I have free access to, haha.

So really, I want to know if I could do a compost pile that the vast majority of consisted of shredded paper and urine ?

Thank you 🙏🏻

Hi Mark,
Thanks for your questions. I will start by sharing an edited extract from my book that takes a detailed look at composting paper.

"1. Dioxins
Chlorine bleaching of pulp and paper produces dioxins. The World Health Organization classifies dioxins as persistent organic pollutants, as they accumulate in the food chain. They’re highly toxic, and 90 per cent of our exposure is through food. Because we’re at the top of the food chain, we accumulate dioxins from eating other animals.

People became concerned about the contamination of paper products with dioxins in the 1980s. Today, chlorine bleaching has been replaced by Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleaching, which significantly reduces – but doesn’t completely eliminate – the production of dioxins. Safer methods for whitening paper use oxygen, peroxide (used for newspapers) or ozone, which eliminate chlorine altogether. Look out for the terms Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) or Processed Chlorine Free (PCF – this includes recycled material, which may contain trace levels of dioxins) when buying office paper, if you want to use it in your compost.

2. Dyes
I recommend that you don’t add heavily coloured or dyed cardboard or paper to your compost. However, if it’s not glossy then it’s probably safe in small portions, as most modern inks and dyes are vegetable-based. I’m personally not worried about composting white paper and cardboard with some black printing on it, or single-colour cardboard such as yellow or pink egg cartons.

3. Gloss
I don’t recommend using cardboard or paper that is coated, waxed, shiny or glossy (such as magazine paper) in your garden or compost. This coating can be made from a number of things, including a fine clay pigment that is safe to compost, but it can also be made with a plastic coating. It can be hard to tell the difference, so I recommend recycling glossy items instead.

4. Recycled paper products and BPA
We’re all used to seeing ‘BPA-free’ on plastic bottles and containers. But did you know that many recycled paper and cardboard products contain trace amounts of bisphenol A (BPA) too? This is because thermal shop receipts, which are notoriously full of BPA, end up in mixed paper recycling and get turned into new paper products.

BPA is a chemical that has been linked to a number of serious health issues. According to Food Standards Australia New Zealand, however, the overwhelming weight of scientific opinion is that there is no health or safety issue at the levels to which people are exposed. The US Food & Drug Administration came to the same conclusion in their 2014 safety assessment.

Nevertheless, I want to limit the amount of BPA in my compost and garden because it doesn’t belong in the environment. BPA is found in a lot of different paper products, but thermal shop receipts have the highest concentration; other recycled paper products have very small amounts. My attitude is definitely no thermal receipts in the compost, but I’m happy to add other paper and cardboard even though they may contain small amounts of BPA.

My take on manufactured carbon
There’s no doubt that manufactured carbon has compounds and chemicals that I would prefer weren’t there. To minimise exposure, I focus on using natural sources of carbon in my compost (such as brown leaves and woodchips), and use newspaper, egg cartons with the label removed, and brown cardboard with small amounts of printing as my main sources of manufactured carbon."

So that's some food for thought. Now to answer the rest of your question - urine is a useful source of nitrogen and it's a great compost activator, but I would not use it as your only nitrogen source. Compost microbes are happiest when fed a diverse range of scraps and if your pile simply consists of urine and paper it will turn to paper mache and become quite anaerobic.

Hope this helps.

Kate

Saana Jalimauchi wrote:Welcome Kate!

What a great timing, I’m just trying to start composting again. I tried the bokashi method last year but then I ran into some problems with winter temperatures and some other things and got really, really discouraged.. But I will start a thread of it’s own on that topic. Good to hear you have an Instagram page too, I haven’t used it in a while but I still have an account. I’ll have to go have a look!

Hi Saana,

Thanks for your warm welcome! I do hope you give bokashi another go - it's one of my favourite composting methods. I have a very detailed section about it in my book and also lots of posts about it on my IG.

Kate

andy tees wrote:Hi Kate
Welcome
Starting new gardens in Zealand New Brunswick Canada. Quite the challenge. Stoney sandy soil. Very few worms so far. Need help to get compost cooking here. Any advise?

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the welcome. Can I please clarify if you would like some more information about hot composting?

Kate

Pj Pape wrote:Hi Kate - I find myself currently living in a condo and the board elected me as the landscaping person. Muah-ha-ha. I'd like to begin to move us toward what permaculture we can manage as we replace plants. I'm in central FL zone 9a on the coast, so salt tolerance is key. I am wondering what type of composting system I can set up that is clear about good/poor ingredients and that won't require much maintenance. One of the last tasks I'd be up for doing is turning the pile a 100 degrees and 90% humidity! The soil is mostly sand currently. Thoughts?

Thank you,

PJ

Hi Pj,
Thanks for you question. I'm going to start by answering with an edited extract from my book with 5 different options. Let me know which one you would like to know more about and I'll send you some more detailed information.

"Working out the best composting kit for your home is an important piece of the puzzle. This can be bewildering, as there are many different commercially available composting systems plus lots more you can make yourself.

The right system will accommodate your climate, as well as the volume and types of waste you produce in your kitchen and garden. Just remember that compost microbes don’t care if they’re in a fancy compost tumbler or a DIY trash-can compost bin with the bottom cut off, so don’t get too hung up on one particular product.

For ease of comparison, I’ve grouped composting equipment into six categories. I’ll provide the pros and cons for common equipment in each category so you can pick a winner – but anyone who composts, regardless of what they use, is already a winner! The six categories are:

1. Enclosed bins – These are best for smaller urban gardens or areas with a lot of wildlife, including pests such as rodents.
2. Boxes and bays – These are best for larger gardens that need to process a lot of plant material and garden refuse.
3. Bokashi bins – These are best for people with a busy lifestyle, apartment dwellers or homes without gardens.
4. Digesters – These are best for the dirt-averse who shudder at the thought of handling compost and want a hands-off approach.
5. Pit and sheet composting – These are best for people who don’t want to move finished compost, as these methods put organic matter exactly where you need it."

I think the first option of an enclosed bin with added rodent and snake proof mesh on the bottom and a DIY compost lung placed in the centre would work well for your communal garden, but let me know what you think first.

Kate

Gaurī Rasp wrote:Hello Kate! I’ve been following you on IG & have learned SO much from you! And thrilled that you completed a book that will be filled w all your knowledge & wisdom! Maybe I’ll win a copy!!! Woohoo!
Q for you: I started vermicomposting this year & it’s a much slower process getting the worm castings than I thought. Any way to keep my worms happy & producing more?? What bedding do you recommend? I use cococoir, shredded paper & cardboard.
Thanks!!!

Hi there,
Thanks for your questions. I'll answer them by sharing some edited extracts from my book The Compost Coach.

1. "Worms don’t have teeth, so they can’t bite into chunky scraps; rather, they suck decomposing and soft scraps into their mouths. By understanding this characteristic, we can optimise their scraps by chopping them up, freezing/thawing them (this helps them to decompose more quickly) or, even better, blitzing them in a food processor to create lots of surface area for both bacteria and worms to easily consume."

2. "It’s easy to get overly enthusiastic about the amount of food that you think your worms will consume, especially when you hear that worms can consume half their body weight in food and bedding per day. With this thinking, if you bought 1 kilogram of worms, surely they could munch through 500 grams of food waste per day, right? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but generally that’s not the case. Your worm farm would have to be operating at optimum efficiency for this to happen (perfect pH, ideal outdoor temperature, a farm with a large surface area, and an acclimatised and hungry adult worm population).

Instead of focusing on weight, it’s actually best to be guided by observation and direct feedback from the worms when it comes to the quantity and frequency of feedings. Always eyeball what’s left in your farm before you add more scraps – and give it a sniff, too. If there’s a lot of their last meal left, then hold off giving them more. If it’s a bit smelly, then this can be a sign that you’ve added too much food, and anaerobic conditions are taking over. Don’t add more food scraps if this is the case, and instead add dry carbon and give the contents a turn to rebalance conditions. Scraps with more surface area will be consumed more quickly because the microbes will get to work faster. So, chop or blend your scraps to supercharge the amount of waste your worms consume."

3. "I love adding leaf mould or shredded brown leaves to my worm farms as a natural source of carbon. I mow over the leaves a few times first to break down their size. Worms love ripped-up egg cartons and shredded corrugated cardboard (you’ll see them hanging out in the folds); torn paper works well, too. Lots of what you put in your recycling can instead be processed by your worms and returned to the earth. I give my worms the occasional treat of moist lucerne mulch (alfalfa) or pea mulch. It’s always a good idea to cover your scraps with carbon, such as brown leaf litter, to replicate what happens on forest floors. This also stops flies and other pests being attracted to the food waste"

Hope this helps.

Kate

Tony Grguric wrote:I am in the process of gaining more knowledge on composting elements, amongst many other permie parts..

These threads, indicating a wonderful book on composting, have come at a perfect time for me

Thanks to all, for highlighting it, and thanks to Kate for putting it together

It's a really great book (if I may say so myself) so I hope you get a chance to read it Tony.

Kate

Ash Jackson wrote:Thanks for your detailed reply, Kate.

When you described this, I immediately thought of nesting 5 gallon buckets. Is that too big for a 2-3 person indoor composting setup?

(Forgive my ignorance, I'm new to doing this stuff indoors)

Thanks!

That's about 20 litres right? If so that is an ideal size for a bokashi bin

Jc Alvarez wrote:Hello and welcome Kate.
I recently read Alan Booker's "Notes on Making Thermophilic Compost for the Garden or Homestead" and he suggests that you need quite a lot of material so that the pile gets hot enough - a minimum of 1 cubic meter. How do you store all the materials until you have enough? Do I need to create 3 big piles (greens, browns, and high Nitrogen) and then mix them all together when I have enough? Is it ok that they degrade while waiting to be mixed?
Thank you,
JC

Hi Jc,
Thanks for your question. Here's an edited extract from my book "You’ll need to pop on your compost-coloured glasses and go hunting for greens and browns because you need to stockpile enough ingredients to fill your compost bin all at once. This can be a bit tricky to manage when you have perishable scraps such as food waste. That’s why I love Bokashi bins – they give me an active place to store my household food waste while I’m gathering enough greens and browns for my latest batch of hot compost."

Hot Composting video

Here's another snippet you might find useful and will give you some food for thought about the required volume: "When you want to get hot, you have to go big – and I mean really big. The best pile size to ensure consistently hot compost is 1 metre x 1 metre x 1 metre, which is 1 cubic metre or 1000 litres of organic matter. Making a pile of this size works well for people with large gardens, but if you have a smaller yard and want to give hot composting a go, I’ll let you in on a little secret of mine: in my experience, home compost creators can have blisteringly hot compost with piles of less than 500 litres, if you nail the C:N ratio and add a compost activator. There is no doubt that it’s more challenging to create consistently hot compost in smaller volumes, but it’s definitely possible.

One thing to note is that volumes of less than 1000 litres don’t hold high temperatures for long because they don’t have the critical mass to become self-insulating. So, unless you’re confident in your hot composting ability, don’t add weeds that have gone to seed, diseased plant material or pernicious weeds to small hot compost piles. Your pile needs to reach 55–60 degrees Celsius for a minimum of three consecutive days, otherwise the weeds and diseases are not destroyed; they can then spread back into your soil via the finished compost. Not all batches cook enough when you first start experimenting with the hot compost method, and this can lead to compost heartbreak. So, when building your first hot compost pile, focus on adding disease-free plant matter and seedless weeds. This will allow you to enjoy the process and not stress about the results because, as you’ve learned earlier, lukewarm and slow (cold) composting are still kick-ass!"

It's totally fine if your greens and browns start to decompose, but make sure the piles of nitrogen do not become anaerobic.

I give detailed steps in my book about how to make hot compost in small and large batches. I hope you check it out.

Kate

Timothy Norton wrote:Welcome Kate!

I can't wait to read discussions that might happen while you are here.

Hope you like your stay

Thank you Timothy. The compost community on here is so curious and eager to learn, so I'm excited to hang out here for the week.

Kate