For years I have thrown all sticks landing in my yard into
our backyard fire pit. Aside from loving a good campfire, I know any stick larger around than my thumb will take a
very long time to decompose in my bin. I even try to break other materials up to make decomposition faster.
PVC pipe with holes drilled in it
Stalks from plants
Bunched up cardboard or egg cartons
But recently I started deliberately adding sticks to my
compost hoping to provide something every compost pile needs: AIR.
A Breath of Fresh Air
Adding a small layer of sticks every so often, especially
when you are starting a new pile, helps the material from becoming too dense
for air to move through. Keeping air in your pile helps encourage our friends
the aerobic microorganisms to break down our compost even faster.
Of course you can also aerate your pile by turning it
but I’m experimenting to see if sticks offer the same effect with little to no
effort.
Another material with a similar effect to sticks would be straw. Last fall after harvesting my compost, I piled some old
straw in the bottom to help air flow through the bin.
Free As A Bird
Other composters have tried different methods to add air
into the pile without having to turn.
PVC pipe with holes drilled in it
Stalks from plants
Bunched up cardboard or egg cartons
Feel free to air your opinion: do you use anything else to
keep air in your pile?
I toss in the cardboard tubes from rolls of paper towels. They get soggy eventually but they make little pockets of air until they decompose.
ReplyDeleteI aerate mine by poking holes in the pile occasionally with a long garden stake. I also turn it every few weeks.
ReplyDeleteGreat article.Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI've put a roll of hard ware cloth and buried it in the middle to hold more oxygen and my pile is very hot 5 days later!
ReplyDelete