Question: With an open pile (wood slat lined) adding kitchen food waste from dining hall kitchen and barn waste (manure, straw from horse stalls), we will tumble to "mix it" and let it sit until tumbler is full and then dump in the "open bin"... Can we do anything to make it break down quickly - maybe cover with a black tarp to avoid frost - harness warmth from the sun? Can we just add worms into the pile and get a good result, keeping it under a black tarp?
Great that you are tumbling the manure and food waste together, as that initial mixing will help the composition of the compost. If winter temperatures are a concern and given the size of your bin, adding worms (and attempting to remove them) may be a challenge. Other methods for speeding up decomposition include: shredding or breaking apart the organic waste, turning pile more frequently, keeping pile moist, insulating with a “compost duvet”, adding a bit of existing compost (with its beneficial bacteria) to the mix.
Some reading resources:
https://www.arboretum.ie/how-to-speed-up-composting/
https://www.compostmagazine.com/how-speed-up-compost/
https://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/compost_rapidcompost.pdf
Question: With an open pile (wood slat lined) adding kitchen food waste from dining hall kitchen and barn waste (manure, straw from horse stalls), we will tumble to "mix it" and let it sit until tumbler is full and then dump in the "open bin"... Can we do anything to make it break down quickly - maybe cover with a black tarp to avoid frost - harness warmth from the sun? Can we just add worms into the pile and get a good result, keeping it under a black tarp?
Great that you are tumbling the manure and food waste together, as that initial mixing will help the composition of the compost. If winter temperatures are a concern and given the size of your bin, adding worms (and attempting to remove them) may be a challenge. Other methods for speeding up decomposition include: shredding or breaking apart the organic waste, turning pile more frequently, keeping pile moist, insulating with a “compost duvet”, adding a bit of existing compost (with its beneficial bacteria) to the mix.
Some reading resources:
https://www.arboretum.ie/how-to-speed-up-composting/
https://www.compostmagazine.com/how-speed-up-compost/
https://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/compost_rapidcompost.pdf
