Hello! Welcome to the seventh segment in our series on the Life of a Batch. In this segment, we’ll go through the fifth time that the batch is turned.
Previously:
We went through turn number four, as we continue down the road of transformation from raw materials to beautiful compost.
Today is Thursday, March 26. It’s been 9 days since we last turned the batch, and 52 days since we started the batch. Day by day, week by week, we watch our raw materials – all that grass, leaves, food scraps, etc. – gradually transform into that lovely brown stuff that our plants love.
Here’s what we look like today. You can see that the shrinking of the batch that we saw so much of in earlier turns, as significantly slowed down. In fact, it looks almost the same size as it did before we turned it last time.
As for temperature… on the day of our last turn, we were at 148°F (64°C). The day after that turn, we had dropped to 123°F (51°C), which seems like a lot, but is perfectly normal at this phase. Four days later, on March 21, the temperature for this round peaked at 144°F (62°C), and today, five days after that, our temperature is still at 141°F (61°C)… moving along nicely.
A close-up view of the material shows that the actinomycetes are still active, though not as prominently so. Also, the material is gradually becoming less distinguishable as it’s original forms, and starting to look more like generic ‘stuff’. As time goes on, and we go through subsequent turns, we’ll see the continued transformation into a more uniform substance.
We had some bright sunshine today, so the shadows are a bit harsh, but you can still see that we do our usual method… scraping down the pile, mixing materials that were on the outside edges with the material that was more interior, ensuring that everything gets time in the middle.
And as always, we add moisture to each layer of material as it’s transferred to the new bay. However, as the material breaks down and the particle size shrinks, it retains more moisture from the previous turn, thus requiring less to be added each time.
Here we are, all mixed, aerated, moistened and transferred to the next bay. Things are gradually looking more uniform, more ‘compost-like’ each time.
And finally, the cover goes on. The stage is set for our little microbial friends to keep doing their thing. This round will probably be a bit longer than previous turn intervals because we have the Easter weekend holiday coming up. See you on the other side!
Next up:
Turn number six. The next step from grass, leaves and food scraps, to brown gold.