Howdy! Welcome to the fifth segment in our series on the Life of a Batch. In this segment, we’ll walk through the first time it’s turned as a single-bay batch.
Previously:
We went through The Big Combine, where we take the batch from two separate bays and combine it into one.
Today is Friday, March 6. It’s been 11 days since we last turned the batch, and 32 days since we started the batch. So, we’ve now passed the one-month mark. This is the beginning of what I like to refer to as, The Long Haul. For the next 2-3 months, we’ll turn the batch from one bay to the next every 10-12 days or so, watching the gradual changes, as it slowly breaks down into its final form.
As you can see, we’ve continued to shrink… maybe another 10-12 inches since the last turn. This is to be expected, though the rate of shrinkage will start to slow down now.
The temperature of the batch today before turning is 152°F (67°C), So that means, in the last week, it’s only lost 5°F (3°C). The fact that it’s maintained a high temperature means that our microbes are happily doing their job. It also means that any weed seeds and pathogens that might be present in the pile are also being killed. That’s a good thing.
When we open it up, we can see that it’s looking a bit more homogeneous than the last time we saw it. You can still make out the leaves and grass and larger elements, but things are starting to blend a bit. This will be the trend moving forward – each time we open the batch after a turn, it will look a little less like its separate elements, and a little more like a uniform brown substance.
Digging into the pile, we can see that it’s still loaded with actinomycetes, that family of bacteria we love. This is a great sign, as it means the conditions inside the batch or great for microbial activity.
Of course, as we mix and move the material into the new bay, we continue breaking up any clumps, as well as adding a light amount of water throughout.
And even though this is the fourth time we’re going through the material in this batch, we’re still finding trash. It’s yet another reminder of how present trash is in our lives. To the folks who bag their waste for us, thank you so much for taking the time to make sure that minimal trash makes it’s way into the bags. It really help us out a lot.
Once all the material is mixed, aerated and moved to the next bay, we give it one final wet down. This helps ensure that our moisture levels stay where they need to be over the next 10-12 days until our next turn, keeping our little microbe friends happily thriving and multiplying.
Finally, we’re all covered up, ready to continue breaking down. Our first step in the long haul of turns over the next 2-3 months.
As usual, we expect a temperature drop after a turn. Since today is Friday, we’ll be back three days from now to check the temperature on Monday.
Update: It’s Monday, March 9… three days later and the temperature is now 151°F (66°C), only one degree lower than where it was on Friday when we turned it. So, any temperature loss that happened as a result of the turn, has been all but regained already. That’s a good sign that our batch is cooking along nicely.
Next up:
The Fourth Turn. We continue the incremental decomposition and transformation, on the way to our lovely, finished, fluffy brown stuff.