I just realized that I don't know what to expect from the pile I just built yesterday. I assume it's too quick for it to be cooking. But maybe not?
How quickly will the microbes start doing their work?
and
I read in one of the longer posts in this forum that you can actually see steam rising from your pile when it has heated up. Is that generally true?
Quick background:
1. We want make lots of compost/humus
very quickly since we've got a LOT of plans for growing food as well as making things pretty.
2. We're willing to spend more (within reason) -- both time and money -- on the front end to get the process rolling so we can stop buying compost.
3. We've got Agrispon, liquid molasses, and lots of room & raw materials.
4. We're going to have multiple piles: at least 1 active pile (no adding after it's built), a couple of "fresher" piles where we can throw weeds, fresh leaves that fall, etc., and a pile of thicker branches that need to break down and die before being composted.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for your help!
_________________
God speed!
Cara
**
Take time to stop and smell the flowers!
(or... as my ladybug refrigerator magnet says
"take time to stop and
eat the flowers!"
)