tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post7680730338881903564..comments2023-12-19T23:37:10.778-08:00Comments on Agrarianista: New Year's Resolutions, and a technical question about compostingJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-56114940580681007902011-01-02T07:30:50.826-08:002011-01-02T07:30:50.826-08:00Nathan, I'll keep an eye out for a cover, than...Nathan, I'll keep an eye out for a cover, thanks for the tip.<br /><br />Hippo and Steve, I really appreciate the positive attitudes, but I've put any hopes for hot composting on the back burner for now. Steve, I definitely have enough browns for the pile, what with my duck beds, but thanks for the tip. <br /><br />I've tried covering, I've tried bone meal (the compost starter), I've tried all I could in the time and space I've got, and I never got any heat going. Perhaps it's a cosmological metaphor, I'm not sure... but, I know that I don't want to spend any more time on that particular project, given my current time constraints. Also, I do have a fairly effective worm compost bin going (and you are dead-on, Hippo, about the fish-catching abilities, esp. of our local nightcrawlers; in fly-fishing circles, they are known as a #2 pink nightie). <br /><br />Hippo, we've had enough precip. to soak the leaf pile to the point that it's holding water (we recorded, I believe, the second wettest December on record. Fresno, to our South, received half it's annual rainfall in one month). Sadly, I'm well versed in the life cycle of the mosquito, but I do really appreciate the information you've provided.Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05409883521642115031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-28894066050474343152011-01-01T21:09:38.707-08:002011-01-01T21:09:38.707-08:00I would agree with Hippo. It seems that you may n...I would agree with Hippo. It seems that you may not have enough "other" green material in your compost. When I have too much leaf material it tends to flatten and become a barrier. I've come to mix in table scraps, straw or mulch from the chicken coop to have a more balanced mix of materials.<br /><br />Steve in Central CAStevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14202410717147326787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-88560562981471413782011-01-01T12:31:08.962-08:002011-01-01T12:31:08.962-08:00I can't see the direct connection between comp...I can't see the direct connection between composting leaves and mosquitoes.<br /><br />Mosquitoes may find the environment provided by composting leaves agreeable to hang around in but then they like any dark, damp place.<br /><br />They are breeding somewhere else though. The males do not suck blood, it is only the females that need a blood meal to mature their eggs which they lay in still, stagnant water. The males suck nectar from plants.<br /><br />If your environment is laced with stagnant pools of water, and don't forget, the water that can collect in an abandoned tyre is enough, never mind a water butt, then there isn't an awful lot you can do about it unless you want to go polluting your environment and pour diesel onto the swamps to kill the air breathing water borne larvae.<br /><br />You can buy yourself a 'swingfogger'. Basically it looks like a leaf blower but burns diesel the exhausst of which is mixed with an insecticide and creates an artificial fog that knocks down all the mosquitoes and keeps them under control.<br /><br />Best way, though, is to eliminate their breeding environment which means no stagnant water.<br /><br />For your compost heap, get yourself some gash timber and make up an enclosed bed, at least three feet deep and start dumping your leaves, grass cuttings and other organic waste into it. Mulching it all before hand helps but isn't essential. I am sure that in the states they will sell, in the garden centres, a mulching/compost enzyme. This is a natural product (think yoghurt) that gets the process going.<br /><br />Throw in your leaves etc. and then sprinkle a layer of earth and a bit of the enzyme powder over it, tamp it down and then cover with a tarpaulin and leave it to sweat. Every time you add more mulch, repeat the process.<br /><br />Before long, the bottom will be a rich compost full of the fattest, fish catching worms you could ever wish for.<br /><br />Keeping it well covered keeps the heat in, and accelerates the process, and keeps the mossies away.<br /><br />Big compost heaps can also be used for home heating as the process generates a lot of heat. It is an anaerobic process so if you can seal it all in, you can also harvest methane gas. But now I am getting carried away...Hippohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09468795398813061897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1739165937859822298.post-87281148163361844562011-01-01T12:30:35.590-08:002011-01-01T12:30:35.590-08:00Haven't tried it, but there's a netting th...Haven't tried it, but there's a netting that people place over the rain-collection bins. Maybe that would work if placed rather snugly over the compost heap/bin?Nathan Osbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05768892001243499184noreply@blogger.com