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Here's what I've done, and I'd love to have some feedback.
I just moved to an old mountain farm and am finding all kinds of useful things in unexpected places. Nearly buried in the woods, I found a roll of very heavy gauge wire mesh. It seems like the sort of stuff that would be used to reinforce a concrete slab or wall. The wire is easily 1/8" in diameter and the mesh is about 6" square. It is about 6' tall. I formed two sections into an "L", about six feet on each side, and set it into a steep bank in the trees behind the garden, so the bank forms one side of the compost and one side is open.
So far this works well for filling because I can bring a wheelbarrow to it from the top of the bank and dump it right in. Smaller loads from weeding, I just toss over the top.
I figured that, as it decomposed, I could cut out a section at the bottom of the wire and shovel it out.
Most working compost piles I've seen before are just piles -- not turned or aerated -- and the next year you just shovel the compost out from the bottom.
My big questions are:
Why all the turning?
Why eliminate light?
How necessary are those two things?
Are additives necessary? (Which? Why?)
What's wrong with just dumping one year and shoveling out the next?
Are there methods that will produce decent compost sooner?
Would adding horse manure be good? bad? (The manure is mixed with wood shavings from the stalls.)
I also raise small exotic mammals and have several parrots, so, from the various tanks and cages, I have lots of wood shavings, seed shells, half-munched hay and fruit peels that I compost as well. The small rodents get cardboard tubes which they tear to bits, and the bird cages are lined with newspaper. Should newspaper/cardboard be kept out of the compost? Of course, there are droppings mixed in with all this. Are there any negatives to using this for compost?
I’ll be very grateful for any insights.
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