|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 23, 2009 17:29:20 GMT -5
We just tore down the old compost pile. Mike came in and gave me this news, "I didn't see a single earthworm, but there are now about 8 million homeless cockroaches and there were lots and lots of grubs."
My question is, just how panicked and grossed out should I be? Can I faint? Was our compost a complete and utter failure?
|
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Mar 23, 2009 17:42:23 GMT -5
For some reason, I hardly ever saw a worm in any compost pile, but lots of grubs. And are you sure the critters were cockroaches? Would be a first for me...
|
|
|
|
Post by Alan on Mar 23, 2009 19:27:22 GMT -5
Never seen cockroaches in compost, but if so, I imagine they play a beneficial role in the breakdown of organic matter as do most grubs. We end up with a lot of worms in our composts here, but that is probably more by luck and the ocassional escape of my composting worms from their facilities than anything else.
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 24, 2009 8:10:21 GMT -5
hmmmm... interesting. Well, I didn't see the roaches, my husband did. He knows what they look like around here (they are different from the dainty little things in California) so I'm certain he got the correct ID on those. Could it be that we are in a southern clime and you are far north of us? I do take some comfort in your comment that both roaches and grubs are probably beneficial.
Mike & I talked about it, we are of the opinion that it's possible/probable that we had such a big population because we didn't keep the pile hot enough. When we switch to the TP, that won't be an issue.
And on the subject of TP, what is an ideal set up? I've been pondering this because I am of the opinion that it should somehow be connected with the toilet system in order to take advantage of that waste as well. I'm thinking that the super deluxe model should be something that "lives" on the edge of ones home with a small portion extending just far enough under the house to catch the toilet refuse. Other organic materials such as kitchen waste would be taken out and hand delivered through the "front" of the bin. There would have to be a way to insulate for the purpose of keeping the heat from transferring to the house in summer, but it would be good to be able to use the heat in winter. There should be a sort of arm that would make a slow sweep through the pile mixing and aerating it on a regular basis. Ideally it should do this automatically with some sort of timed device or manually at the push of a button.
Our house is a rectangle with a bathroom at opposing corners and the toilets are located on the outer walls making this a reasonable arrangement. You would have to balance the delivery of food scraps and yard scraps somehow. Though I think that should be fairly easy to do. If you were minus a fireplace or some other way to add "fire" on a regular basis, you could have an additional burner of some sort. Maybe a propane fueled thing underneath the box?
Of course all this would eliminate the natural setting. On the other hand, it would make it more palatable to the "modern" man (more likely woman) and still achieve the main objective. Of course, those of us with the desire to keep it in nature would certainly be able to.
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 27, 2009 17:12:44 GMT -5
GREAT NEWS! Our brand spankin' new terra preta pit is up and running! Well, it isn't running. How can it? It doesn't have legs! =o/) I've got 3 photos if anyone is interested or can tell me how to load the photos into a post. We haven't fired it and won't until tomorrow because there isn't enough "stuff" in it just yet. Tomorrow we will light the flame. I confess, I'm pretty darned excited about this.
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 28, 2009 20:51:08 GMT -5
OK, so the pit didn't get fired today. We got about 3" of rain instead. Maybe tomorrow!
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 30, 2009 11:09:00 GMT -5
We know that pottery is typically part of a TP pit. Question, what about glass?
|
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Mar 30, 2009 22:05:31 GMT -5
Potery is porous and like a sponge at a miniature/microscopic level. Glass is not.
It is possible the roaches ended up there because they were disturbed elsewhere. But this is not an ideal environment for them. A lot of similar looking critters ( I don't know their names) do end up in it though, I have had people asked me if they were croaches...
Quite frankly, I think we don't see much worms in the piles because of the heat generated. And when we do it is at the edges....
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 31, 2009 7:26:19 GMT -5
So, do you think glass would be good, bad, or indifferent to add to the pit?
Roaches can live in very extreme environments and the pile was emerging from winter cold. Maybe that would be part of the issue as well. The heat factor does make sense for the worm population though.
We fired our pit yesterday and it's still cooking today. The top needs some finishing touches but that should come today sometime. I'M SO EXCITED! However, we are now presented with yet another major issue. We may have to stop our twice weekly garbage pickup! We so enjoyed giving away the $20 per week, but now it seems we just don't have enough to give them.
How about other experiments? Does anyone else have a functioning project? What is the update?
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Apr 6, 2009 9:42:43 GMT -5
It's been a week now that things are humming along. We haven't had to restart the heat, we have plenty of damp fresh fuel so we haven't had any flare ups. We've had a medium heavy rain and some high winds which have had no negative effect.
Some issues which have come to mind are:
1. There is a constant, thin, pale, smoke which dissipates within 3 to 6 feet of the pit. Should we consider filtering?
2. There should be some way to harness the heat and use it. I think think this would work wonderfully in a greenhouse system.
3. What other in-process projects are out there and how are they doing?
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Apr 19, 2009 11:33:02 GMT -5
So, several weeks on, the process is doing pretty well. I think I noticed a smokey smell yesterday but because people are burning everywhere at this time of year it's difficult to tell if it was us or someone near us. I think it was us. We definitely need to lift the roof so that it's easier for the boys to toss in the trash.
Thinking ahead... The idea is to stop adding material in about a year and allow the thing to cool and I suppose "cure" would be the best word. I was wondering it it would be a good, bad, or indifferent thing to introduce worms at this point. If a good idea, how would you go about it? Just toss a handful on top, put some on the edge and hope they are attracted? Maybe have them in some sort of degradable package that would disappear after a period of time?
|
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Apr 19, 2009 21:01:51 GMT -5
Glass can only be a bad idea I think. Neutral at best, dangerous for cuts or starting a fire if acting as a magnifying glass at worse.
Glass is good for us , not much so for nature.
|
|
|
|
Post by grunt on Apr 19, 2009 23:58:20 GMT -5
You can toss a few worms on the pile when it's cool enough, or dig them in a bit, but I think you will find that if you have worms in your garden, they will start showing up on their own in the pit. Like most people, they never turn down a free lunch.
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Apr 20, 2009 3:49:16 GMT -5
Mike - So you don't think it will break down to sand or melt into blobblets? ::sigh:: Something to actually have to get off the land then. That or I'll have to learn how to throw pots and make ground glass glaze (a speciality in Seagrove).
Grunt - We don't have worms in our soil. Not yet at least. We have been working our soil since January and I finally saw A worm a couple days ago. I haven't worked the plot near the pit yet, there may be more there, but I'm not holding my breath at the moment.
|
|
|
|
Post by grunt on Apr 20, 2009 23:43:54 GMT -5
Actually, you likely do have worms in your soil, just deeper than you would normally expect to find them. If you have one, you have more.
|
|
