making a thermophillic compost heap Pt 1

[samirbalonmano]

I was wondering is it possible to put some PVC tubes in compost, through which water would circulate, and that water would heat vegetables in hoop house during the winter? Maybe all of this should be near and in one hoop house, or green-house? What do you think about that Sir? Best regards!

[greenman023]

@samirbalonmano

hi samir, not having had any experience although the idea has crossed my mind I would have thought it was potentially possible but similarly potentially complicated!! compost as a source of heat though has been used for centuries... the Victorian (English) used to use the heat in glass houses to grow pineapples whilst the French used to part bury a heap, cover it with soil and plant melons... I suspect that the use of pipes complicates turning...but not impossible to achieve

[samirbalonmano]

@greenman023 It's great to know that about Victorian and French, thanks!

It is complicated, but its also complicated to get oxigen into compost piles, to get it more and faster warm.

I mean, this is great stuff, and 60 degrees Celsius is VERY good, specialy in winter...

I am very interested about this, and I think this is green energy, that greener can't be no more.:)

I wish you a lot of good luck in your work, and thanks for usefull informations!

[gojuryukarateka]

@samirbalonmano using compost to heat water works somewhat. the problem is it steals heat energy and therefore interferes with the composting process. i have used showers heated by hose coils within the compost heap. they worked ... but weren't very efficient.

[SFIAustralia]

Hi Malcom, I am curious to see if you have done any microbiological tests on your compost, I noted you spoke about gypsum helping to lock in the nitrogen via ammonium sulphate, have you found this has effected your Fungal biomass ?

[greenman023]

@SFIAustralia

strict answer... none.. that said test (if you are referring to direct sampling) are largely superfluous because the spatial variability is so great it reveal less than nothing... however the following generalizations are known to be true... a temp above 60 degrees celcius is sufficient ti kill all animal & human pathogens but insufficlent to kill the majority of the mesophiles and their spores...(this occurs at temps above 70)

[greenman023]

@greenman023 above 70 you start to sterilize ... very bad thing to do! which is why a heap should not be taken to thistemp (70 degrees celcius)

at this temp 60-70 whilst densley populated the diversity is minimal... the thermopiles are aggressive MF! nobody eat at their table!

subsequent repoputation occurs from the spores and resting microbial pop as the temp subsides.. as well as from the atmosphere....

when the compost is used the microbial poputaion then become victims of the rec soil

[greenman023]

@greenman023

contrary to pop belief adding mircobes to soil is largely pointless.. in nature their is a rule.. possession is nine tenths of it.. in the soil its nearer 10 tenth than not... the exitsing micriflora will nearly always dominate & thrive on any added through compost or expensive elixiers (ie EM)

as for fungi, the majority are imperfecti... they don't like petri dishes & even ehen they do they don't fruit & outside of expensive molecular techniques they are impossible to identify

[samirbalonmano]

@greenman023 I was wondering is it possible to put some PVC tubes in compost, through which water would circulate, and that water would heat vegetables in hoop house during the winter? Maybe all of this should be near and in one hoop house, or green-house? What do you think about that Sir? Best regards!

[buffalopatriot]

great videos - i wish you would do a series on growing food and husbandry as well - thanks malcolm

[greenman023]

@buffalopatriot

hi buffolo.. thanks, glad you like

interesting you should ask about general [soil] husbandry as I am in the process of putting a new major project together called Gorilla Soil Science, an introduction to sustainable eco-terreau-ism the idea is to explain the basic underlying principals that are operating..how to measure them and then design remedies/improvements based on those measurements.. at present only the first part, a text document is available

[greenman023]

@greenman023

send me an email (malcolm.mcewen@gmail.com) and I will send a word copy by return....

[WAXTHEFUR]

i cant et mine smoking, i did like everyone else, does all compost smoke?

[carbarn156]

Do you have any other farming/gardening videos. You're a great instructor.

[Praxxus55712]

That's a pretty hot pile. Good demo

[mogensoverballe]

May the heat from compost been used to drive a stirling motor?

[greenman023]

@mogensoverballe

ohh... don't know but given that a compost heap could only be used to heat up to 70 degrees (and in practive I would suspect that 50 would be your optimum) then probably no.. the heat in a heap whilst reduced on the outside, internally its fairly evenly distributed... as a heat source its perhaps bettr used directly.. i.e attached to or inside a greenhouse.. where the constant heat radiates over a period of up to 2 months

[UrsaOrion13]

I really enjoyed watching your videos last season, and I am watching them again this season to get a primer, I tried your method with some success last year. Please keep up the excellent work.

I am also very impressed with your free use stance.

[mike19692008]

Hi, thanks a lot for your videos, very helpful for me !! In 7:30 you added some kind of dust, can you please let me know what is it and its purpouse in the process ? Thanxs Again !!

[greenman023]

@mike19692008

hi mike, the only 2 'powders' i use are agricultural gypsum (calcium & magnesium sulphate) & some 'french' lime (calcium). the 1st provides floculation properties (prevents sliming) and traps ammonia by reacting with the sulphate to produce amonium sulphate. .. the ions are balanced so despite having calcium gypsum doesn't particularly affect the pH... which is why a small amount of lime is added... in truth the lime is likely unnecessary but out of habit I add a pinch...

[exclamation3mark]

note to self- agricultural gypsum!

[davidnightingale]

5 stars and faved. Excellent vid. Cheers

[greenman023]

note from author.

although youtube have added DRM software to prevent downloads of this or other videos as author I give full and unrestricted rights to everyone to download, copy, distribute and use for any purpose whatsoever without need to cite or refer to the origin of the material: you are totally free to claim this as your own as you are with all my videos and text.

[MiSTAAAHMEK]

dont understand you ..sory

[ManaGlassStudio]

How often do you turn the pile ? I do my compost in a simple pile and just turn it every week..

[greenman023]

hi,

in my experience compost needs only two turns 2-4 weeks apart.... the purpose of turning is two fold... 1) to open the heap up and allow air to perculate freely again and 2) turn the heap inside out so that the whole matetial is 'cooked'... after two turns the heap can be left undisturbed to mature and should be ready in use one to six months. In an ideal situation it is possible to compost completely with just two turns and in just 3 months!

[1too3fore]

A good way to save water, is to add used coffee grounds from a cafe, like Starbucks, since it is quite moist. Adding a good layer of moist coffee grounds between layers of other materials will reduce water requirements, if not eliminate it totally.

[WeThePeopleOnline]

Fantastic video series.  Thank you for sharing.

[nicholevideo]

I have some text documents that used to be part of some web pages... I will try and get then together as a guide and will post it a a retrievable doc as and when I can.... I'll post here when its done.. any use to you?

[greenman023]

yes please do... I use scribd (dot) com for my docs..

[miketike143]

true just anxious to start my very own thermophillic compost heaps my apologies

[miketike143]

You guys are mean. Why want you respond to my question?

[greenman023]

maybe we are or have been busy mike???

[miketike143]

One more question i googled waste straw no results any tips where i find waste straw

[nicholevideo]

you dont have to use waste straw; the straw I used was damaged by rain, hence it was unfit for stable bedding. it would b expensive not to say a poor use of good straw to compost without first using it. If you cant get straw any course grass cuttings or plant stems (not wood) are suitable..nature is both forgiving and versatile in this respect... experiment but remember the basic rules.. allow for oxygen to purculate..get the heap moist not saturated or dry.. mix materials in thin layers..

[davidnightingale]

@miketike143 Maybe a riding school where they have lots of horses and may use it for bedding in the stables? Cheers

[miketike143]

did he say white straw?

[greenman023]

I said "waste" straw; as in straw that is damaged

[homesNgardens08]

Thanks so much! Great video.

[1cheshire]

Good vidio im a gardener ive been trying  to compost for about a year but been gardening for 6 years. ive built 3 compost bins with extra large pallets in a H shapes each one being about 10 foot long. i just keep building on top in layers with hedge cuttings and they soon drop down and give off lots of steam when turned but i find i cant control the dampness of the waste

[GrowlerVigilante]

If it is too wet, mix in some cardboard or paper. If it is too dry, add more clippings or peelings! I have a local resturant give me a lot of their peelings and I go though a lot of cardboard and paper it dry it a little. Keep going, it'll work!

[greenman023]

hi alex... I bought the hat in Norther Pakistan (the tribal zone).. it was made in Citral and its nice and warm :-)

yes I did it all alone (all my videos are the sole product of my own endeavours.. except the lotl ones which have had a major contribution from the seven heavens ;-)

and yes it gets very hot.. I didn't actually measure the temp in these heaps but experience says that the temp reaches 65-70 degrees C in 3/5 days and then drops to 50 over the next 2/3 weeks.. hence the turn