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18-Day Compost the Appliance of Science

Posted July 26, 2008 byAndy Kenworthy& filed under Compost.

You may have got beyond the heave it in and hope stage of composting, but the average heap or

bin still involves a lot of trial and error. This 18-day compost system takes the guessork out of

your heap and turbo-charges the hole process. !ut, it does re"uire consistent effort for to

eeks and careful monitoring to ork properly.

#eres ho it as described toLef!urnerby $eoff %aton, head of the &ermaculture

'esearch (nstitute of )ustralia. )s part of $eoffs academic research into the usefulness of

this approach he has successfully composted the discarded bodies of a kangaroo, and even a

penguin *both of hich had died of natural causes+. !ut it is not recommended you try that athome

You will need:

a long handled fork

a rake

a minimum of 1m of semi-shaded floor space and room to ork around it

a ater supply

old clothes

enough compostable material to create a pile 1.m high. /ne third of this should bemanure *animal dung 0 horse or co is good+ and to-thirds carbon rich materials *also

knon as brons+, hich can include ashes, ood, cardboard, corn stalks, fruit aste,

leaves, nespaper, peanut shells, pine needles, sadust and stra

Compostin"puts #rbon b#$

where it belon"s% in our soils

http://permaculturenews.org/author/andy-kenworthy/http://permaculturenews.org/author/andy-kenworthy/http://permaculturenews.org/category/soil/compost/http://permaculturenews.org/2012/11/10/tony-lovell-on-soil-carbon-putting-carbon-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-earth-tedx-video/http://permaculturenews.org/2012/11/10/tony-lovell-on-soil-carbon-putting-carbon-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-earth-tedx-video/http://permaculturenews.org/2012/11/10/tony-lovell-on-soil-carbon-putting-carbon-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-earth-tedx-video/http://permaculturenews.org/2012/11/10/tony-lovell-on-soil-carbon-putting-carbon-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-earth-tedx-video/http://permaculturenews.org/author/andy-kenworthy/http://permaculturenews.org/category/soil/compost/http://permaculturenews.org/2012/11/10/tony-lovell-on-soil-carbon-putting-carbon-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-earth-tedx-video/http://permaculturenews.org/2012/11/10/tony-lovell-on-soil-carbon-putting-carbon-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-earth-tedx-video/

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Building and turning

Day 1: 2hred the carbon material to pieces no bigger than cm, about the si3e of your thumb,

and crush them so they are as fibrous as possible. This offers more surface area for the

composting process.

2aturate the pile ith ater as you mi4 the manure and the carbon materials together./nce

this is done, cover it if it is rainy, to avoid too much ater getting into your pile.

Day 4:Turn the pile upside don and inside out *this should take about 56 minutes+. Then

repeat this process every to days, adding ater as necessary.

Getting the correct moisture content

This is crucial. Test this each time you turn the heap by picking up to handfuls of compost

and s"uee3ing them together. (f you see ater pushing to the surface, or a single drop comes

out, it is fine. (f no ater is seen, the pile is too dry 0 add ater as you mi4. (f to drops or

more come out, the pile is too et. This is a problem and ill slo compost production by at

least to days. To remedy this, fluff the pile ith a fork and dig a chimney-type hole

through the centre to let more air in *force in an implement handle or pole and move it about

to iden a little+.

Getting the right temperature

!y 7ay 8 your heap should be beteen -9, hich is too hot to keep your hand in.

!he m"i# of mu#$ % #ompost pile "i'es

e'iden#e of the het(produ#in" #tion of

b#teri bre$in" down or"ni# mtter

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(f you see hite poder forming in the heap, it is too hot do not compact the heap, fluff it

to allo more air to circulate add sadust.

(f you are successful you should end up ith a nice smelling, arm, dark bron compost

hich can be sieved and used for potting.