TYPES OF COMPOST PITS
COMPOST PITS
Compost pits are used to make manures and fertile compounds by dumping decaying biodegradable items. It contains numerous vital elements for plant growth and is hence frequently used as fertilizer.
- Open air composting (hot composting)
- Direct Composting (in-ground composting)
- Tumbler Composting (A form of hot composting)
- Worm Farm Composting (Vermicomposting)
- EMO Composting (Bacteria composting)
- Combination Composting (Compot Composting)
- Commercial Composting
- Mechanical Composting
Open Air Composting
Open Air Composting is traditionally a pile of green and brown matter in your backyard.
More often than not it is a bay constructed of anything you can get your hands on that is cheap and easy to put together.
Or you might have a couple of bins upturned sitting on the ground like the Gedye bin you can buy in a shop.
Wire cages are also used inlaid with piping around the edges to hold water and capture heat. This can then be used for hot water systems in sustainability situations.
Open Air Composting is generally considered to be a Hot Composting method. Some people often call it a Cold Composting when smaller quantities of waste are used because it does not build up the same amount of heat.
To me, Cold Composting still produces heat and therefore is not technically cold composting.
Perhaps one could call it Warm Composting as the only way you could completely cold compost something is to let it rot in the fridge. And we all know that smell in the fridge.
It is also probably the oldest and most effective method of composting, but like all other methods of composting it too has its limitations. The main one being that it takes a long time to decompose unless you chop everything up.
You can only bury fruit and veg or you run the risk of it being dug up by all sorts of garden critters from birds to vermin. And you have to keep digging holes.
It does, however, produce an abundance of worms that then help to nourish your garden and improve your soil.
For many people, this is a great system if you are relatively strong and keen to turn it every day or every few days.
For others, it is hard work especially if you are getting on in years. But you can get some mechanized ones that make turning easier.
You often need two of these systems so you can let one sit for a few months to fully decompose before you empty it. While this is happening you fill the other one up.
This can be a good system if you have a large amount of green and brown waste to dispose of and have the space to fit this system. But like the bay system it takes a lot of waste to produce a small amount of soil.
If you are only filling it with green and brown waste then a bay system would be just as good though you not have the space and will have to watch out for snakes and rats nesting in the warm compost.
The worms produce castings concentrated with nutrients lower in nitrogen compared to other composting methods.
Worm farms can be utilized even if you have no garden.
I think everyone has tried at some point in time to make their own worm farm with varying degrees of success using anything they can find that is cheap.
Do not house them in metal containers as copper leaches out, which is toxic to your worms.
I personally have tried foam containers only to find the worm juice eats out the foam so they leak everywhere. Unless you have them on the ground somewhere so the nutrients can go directly into the soil you end up with a big mess.
If you use plastic containers you can collect the juice but then you have to add a tap to drain it off or some way of rotating the containers to collect the worm tea.
They need to be kept out of the sun, frost, and rain, and somewhere that’s not too cold either.
Worms are temperamental little critters and will try and escape their containers if the conditions are not right and they are not happy.
It is said that you should use local worms for your area. I personally have no experience with this so you would have to try worms from other areas to know for sure if they will survive.
The most common product using EMO’s is the Bokashi but other indoor systems can use it plus there are some systems that use a carbon filter in the lid as well to filter odors.
Generally speaking, you need two of these, so while one is resting the other is being filled.
You can collect juice to use in your garden.
But you cannot put everything from your kitchen is the Bokashi System.
You can buy the EMO online through many sites selling the Bokashi System.
You can use the EMO’s in other systems if you so desire to aid the composting process.
All the elements of composting are used and will suit most household circumstances.
For some people, it too has its challenges. But for me, the challenges are less and the rewards are better.
You can compost ‘ALL’ your kitchen waste and not just ‘some’ of it.
So ultimately you have over 50% less waste each week to put in your council bin.
Just Fill…Forget…Refill…when ready and give it a good clean out once a year or when ever you feel like it.
It is faster and requires less work than most other composters.
And it nourishes your soil with all your own waste.
To me, it is the easiest method of composting I have ever used.
The Compost is made in long rows using such materials as, sawdust, pine bark, sand plus ferrous sulphate and maybe some sulphate of ammonia all mixed together.
It is usually turned every 3 to 4 days and is generally ready in 6 weeks for bagging.
There is not much nutrient value in the cheap commercial compost.
But there are small independent commercial compost companies that produce a better quality product, than the large commercial compost companies. They are however more expensive.
Some producers such as McLeod’s Agriculture are certified organic as well.
The old saying “you get what you pay for” certainly applies to commercial compost.
The cheaper commercial compost is a good filler for raised garden beds or to backfill a Compot in clay or sandy soil.
Or it can be used to mix with composted soil to fill raised garden beds or a pot plant perhaps.
If you are buying commercial grade compost to grow things it is best to buy a high-quality propagation mix.
This system suits restaurants, hotels, motels, hospitals, schools, kindergartens and any large institution creating large amounts of waste from many people. It is a manageable in-house system instead of sending your waste off to council tips. You do however need to further compost the waste so need someone to collect the leftover contents for further composting in a garden bed or bay composting system.
There are also small systems that suit some people for their private residence but they can be quite expensive and will, of course, cost you ongoing electricity. Like all composters they to come with some pros and cons, but they do produce fast semi-composted soil.
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