How to Turn & Mix Compost
Part of the Video Series How to Compost
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How to Turn & Mix Compost
You want to turn your compost every so often and that’s generally- well, there’s a range; you can do cold composting where you don’t turn it at all, and you can do hot composting where you turn it every week. And you can really do anything in between, so it’s just a matter of preference. If you do cold composting and don’t turn it at all, it will take six months to two years for the compost to completely break down. But with hot composting, it will break down within about six weeks or so, or even less. Some people have those- you can take an old tank of some sort, like an old gas tank. And I’ve seen homemade compost bins where a wielder has cut a piece out and made it into a door, so the cylinder sits on legs and can be spun. In fact, I’ve seen them with handles on them and you just spin it. And it’s good to paint those black. And you just add your kitchen scraps and a little manure and then you spin it, and those are ready in about two weeks. But you do need to have enough volume. The frequency of turning it is a matter of preference. And to do it you simply use your turning fork. And I would take these slats out- which I won’t do more than this- see this is not composted. What I’d do is remove the soil that’s ready to be spread, and I would take this and turn it into that. Because of the microbes that are remaining in this bin, I leave a few inches of compost in the bin, and because of the microbes, when I turn this in here it’ll mix up and aerate and then I’ll throw some buckets of compost in layers so that it gets rotted.
You want to turn your compost every so often and that’s generally- well, there’s a range; you can do cold composting where you don’t turn it at all, and you can do hot composting where you turn it every week. And you can really do anything in between, so it’s just a matter of preference. If you do cold composting and don’t turn it at all, it will take six months to two years for the compost to completely break down. But with hot composting, it will break down within about six weeks or so, or even less. Some people have those- you can take an old tank of some sort, like an old gas tank. And I’ve seen homemade compost bins where a wielder has cut a piece out and made it into a door, so the cylinder sits on legs and can be spun. In fact, I’ve seen them with handles on them and you just spin it. And it’s good to paint those black. And you just add your kitchen scraps and a little manure and then you spin it, and those are ready in about two weeks. But you do need to have enough volume. The frequency of turning it is a matter of preference. And to do it you simply use your turning fork. And I would take these slats out- which I won’t do more than this- see this is not composted. What I’d do is remove the soil that’s ready to be spread, and I would take this and turn it into that. Because of the microbes that are remaining in this bin, I leave a few inches of compost in the bin, and because of the microbes, when I turn this in here it’ll mix up and aerate and then I’ll throw some buckets of compost in layers so that it gets rotted.
About the Expert
Expert: Gale Gassiot makes her own organic compost or "gardener's black gold." Read More
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