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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: Matt Cheselka <cheselka AT theriver.com>
- To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] composting questions
- Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 07:53:01 -0700 (MST)
On Wed, 21 Jul 2004, Tradingpost wrote:
> Flies are a sign of a problem pile. Whatever is drawing them should be
> covered with a thin layer of soil and the pile should not be kept too
> wet.
The flies only appeared after this first turning. They were nowhere to be
seen when I first made the pile. I have no idea if they're there now (I
live about 18 miles away from the farm and compost pile, so I only get
down there every other day). I'll make sure to note if they're there
tomorrow when I go down again to turn the pile. Maybe they're attracted
to the pile when it's turned, but leave shortly (hours) after.
> There should be no odor at any time, start or finish.
Hmmm. I'm not sure I can agree with this. Horse manure has a pretty
distict odor, so making a compost pile that's mostly horse manure it'll
undoubtedly have that smell. However, this pile (even after a coupla
days) has a different odor than what it started with. It isn't unpleasant
(of course I wouldn't want to be breathing it all day!) and somewhere I
read that a "sweet" smell is actually a good sign. I don't remember where
I read that.
> The pile
> should have a variety of compostable materials and have some soil
> interspersed with the materials. Green vegetation needs to be in it to
> heat it up as it breaks down, and the heat is good for reducing
> pathogens. The best reference IMHO is still Rodale's big book Compost.
Well, as I said, I don't think I'm having *any* problem with the pile
heating up. I've actually heard of piles catching fire (of course don't
have any direct experience with this). But my pile was hot enough that I
couldn't touch the stuff for more than about 1/10th of a second! Ouch!
Matt Cheselka
Cosmic Lettuce
-
[Market-farming] composting questions,
Matt Cheselka, 07/21/2004
-
Re: [Market-farming] composting questions,
Allan Balliett, 07/21/2004
-
Re: [Market-farming] composting questions,
Tradingpost, 07/21/2004
- Re: [Market-farming] composting questions, Margaret L Wilson, 07/22/2004
-
Re: [Market-farming] composting questions,
Matt Cheselka, 07/22/2004
- Re: [Market-farming] composting questions, Robin Follette, 07/22/2004
- Re: [Market-farming] composting questions, Tradingpost, 07/22/2004
-
Re: [Market-farming] composting questions,
Tradingpost, 07/21/2004
-
Re: [Market-farming] composting questions,
Allan Balliett, 07/21/2004
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