Thread: The vanilla farm

well turned the compost pile today.
It is amazing how fast stuff breaks down here and the heat on inside of pile was quite warm. A lot of of small bugs on outside and saw a couple worms on edges and what i think was a red centipede.
more pictures to come when i add rice stalks and coconut stuff

Originally Posted by afghanpicker

well turned the compost pile today.
It is amazing how fast stuff breaks down here and the heat on inside of pile was quite warm. A lot of of small bugs on outside and saw a couple worms on edges and what i think was a red centipede.
more pictures to come when i add rice stalks and coconut stuff

There is a guy near you, goes by the handle worm farmer on the other forum. He breeds worms for composting and worn castings. fair size set up. May pay to go see him and get a few worms. Jim

Originally Posted by afghanpicker

well turned the compost pile today.
It is amazing how fast stuff breaks down here and the heat on inside of pile was quite warm. A lot of of small bugs on outside and saw a couple worms on edges and what i think was a red centipede.
more pictures to come when i add rice stalks and coconut stuff

What you are doing is thermophyllic composting, not worm composting. Both are good but they do not co-exist. I have both.
What you have to be interested in is the inside of the heap, right in the centre where the temperature is greatest, that is where the action is. Keep it turning, outside to inside, top to bottom so it all gets into the middle. The outside is doing nothing. It is getting hot so you have local microbes at work and if the centre of the heap is at 60C then add nothing but water. To keep it working the moisture level must remain above 40% else the microbes will either die or go dormant. Forget meters and microwaves, grab a handful and squeeze it. It should not have water streaming out, just a drop or to. The handful should form a ball and stay together, but if you poke it, it should fall apart. That is the right amount of water. The most moisture lost is early on so check soon. To avoid moisture loss cover with a cheap tarp. Next comes smell. If you smell ammonia, add nitrogen (any fresh cut greenery). If it smells bad then add carbon.