Logo primary
Logo secondary
Tim Auld 's Profile
Tim Auld
Details
Joined:
06/02/2011
Last Updated:
14/02/2011
Location:
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Climate Zone:
Sub-tropical
Gender:
Male
Web site:
www.allyoucaneatgardens.com.au





My Projects

(projects i'm involved in)

No Small Dreams

No Small Dreams

Graceville, AU


Projects

(projects i'm following)

Mexico Corn - Demonstrating a Soil Microbiological Approach Ashmore Community Garden Permablitz Brisbane Kinesi Orphans Permaculture Project No longer at Eco Centro Soneva Fushi Nicola's Place
Followers
Anne Hertz ben grubb Ben Hamley Bron(wyn) Elliott Byron Moriarty Carly Gillham Carrie Jones Cheryl Smith Chris McLeod Craig Arnett David Braden david spicer Eileen Baker Emma Crameri emma schroeder Federico Lavarias Gordon Williams Ithatiane Antunes James Forth Jennie Vick Josef Blümel Leigh Hegg Lola Murray Luke Reade Maria Svennbeck Mark Brown Matthew Lynch Neil Bertrando Nick Huggins Ninfa Trevisan Oster thew Paul Young Pete Blake Rebekah Copas Robyn Francis rocío aliaga S Marler Sara Zweig Simon Chauvette Tegan Poustie Tim Oliver Tom Kendall Tracy Saunders Tristan Davis Vanessa Monge Augusto Fernandes
Following
Adam Grubb Beau Horgan Bec R ben grubb Ben Hamley Brad Lancaster Bron(wyn) Elliott Carly Gillham Carrie Jones David Braden Erin Young Frank Gapinski Geoff Lawton Kearney Coupland Matthew Lynch Nick Huggins Nicole Vosper Owen Hablutzel Tim Winton Tom Kendall

Back to Tim Auld's profile

An 18 Day Hot Compost Experiment

Posted by Tim Auld almost 12 years ago

I've made plenty of compost before, but had not yet followed the Berkeley method that is supposed to produce finished compost in 18 days. I decided to put it to the test.

Just before the first turn I decided to record the temperature of the heap, so the data is incomplete. I will do it again soon, but perhaps with a proper data logger to save a lot of time.

Major ingredients are sugarcane mulch, horse manure, coffee grounds, wood chips and food scraps. There is also blood & bone, fish emulsion, seasol, Biotrace, molasses, urine, used pelletised newspaper kitty litter, clay subsoil, bentonite clay, comfrey and qld arrowroot.

Part way through I buried a jar with beeswax and water in the middle of the pile to see if I could melt the beeswax. Beeswax melts at 62-64 degrees. I think the water is unnecessary if the wax is already clean. It was only to transmit the heat to the wax better than air - and will complicate pouring wax into candle molds. If the wax still has propolis and detritus in it then it might be necessary to run it through once to separate the wax, and then again to melt it for filling candle moulds.

Fast turns seemed to improve the temperature of the heap for the next 2 days, although it could have just been different placement of the sensor.

I had a close look at 21 days and the material did not look fine enough for my satisfaction. Perhaps it was the sugarcane mulch with the high silica content that was slow to break down. I decided to turn it again to see what would happen.

Img 9263 Img 9265 Img 9268 Img 9269 Img 9270 Img 9271 Img 9361 Img 9362 Img 9364 Berkeleycomposttemp20120630

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to comment.

My Badges
Consultant Pdc teacher
My Permaculture Qualifications
Verified
course
Type: Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course
Teacher: Dick Copeman
Location: Northey Street City Farm
Date: May 2008
Other course unverified
Accredited Permaculture Training Cert 3
Type: Internship
Teacher: Dick Copeman
Location: Northey Street City Farm
Date: May 2009
1 PDC Graduates (list)
0 PRI PDC Graduates (list)
0 Other Course Graduates (list)
have acknowledged being taught by Tim Auld
0 have not yet been verified (list)
Climate Zones
Tim Auld has permaculture experience in:
Mediterranean
Sub-tropical

Report Tim Auld

Reason:

or cancel

Hide Tim Auld

Reason:

or cancel

Hide An 18 Day Hot Compost Experiment

Reason:

or cancel

Report An 18 Day Hot Compost Experiment

Reason:

or cancel