jcferg77
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:31 pm

Ruth Stout Garden Composting Got Out of Hand

First time gardner

Hi! I have decided to go the Routh Stout way for my first garden. Prob is, I live in town...in a fluffy neighborhood. We are the "commoners" amonsgt the spiffy ones much to their dismay.

Ontop of my lawn this fall I laid down cardboard, coverd it in straw, leaves and paper/cardboard shreds.

there is 9 inches of straw, 3 inches of leaves, and several 13 gallon bags of paper shreds. Its a good mound of stuff lol!

Then I covered it with black plastic.

I was overly zellous and have made an interesting debacle in my back yard.

I don't want the mass smelling, and uncovering it isn't an option...it has to be "contained" somehow so that it wont get in the neighbors yards. It isn't smelly...yet...and its been a month. I'm concerned I've made a mess...and not a garden space.

I'm up for recouperaing, recovering or redoing ideas here

composting accelerants? Flipping and watering the layers (how often?) Figuring out a new way to contain the mess (cheaply)

I am trying, please don't bash me for having tried and made a mess? I just really wanted a garden...and I didn't fully understand the process when I started. I figured I would learn as I went along...lol...sharp learning curves here...

thank you in advance for your advice

Jamie

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Welcome to the forum!

Gardening is a series of experiments in my opinion. So no bashing.

Regarding your methods, I think what you did feels a bit different from true Ruth Stout. She originally advocated HAY not straw, but I’ve seen the trend towards using. straw that - to me- feels like a mish mash with Strawbale Garden building.

As it is, it sounds like too much dry stuff (carbon) unless you didn’t mention other ingredients?

I can see why you might have wanted to use black plastic but as it is, I think not enough aeration and not enough greens… AND insufficient moisture except what might be absorbed or wicked up from the ground and condensation under the plastic.

The dry paper stuff won’t be able to break down.

My suggestion would be to introduce beneficial myco/mushroom mycelia and spore infused water to thoroughly wet down the paper stuff underneath the plastic. This way you can have the mushrooms do all the work without having to uncover and re-pile in layers with greens like grass clippings or veg scraps, etc. other likely high nitrogen sources would include things like alfalfa or cottonseed meal, or animal based amendments.

Another step would be to introduce compost worms.

I need more details of your set up to come up with best idea for implementation. Also, are you willing to spend money for inoculating mushroom spores or are you on a budget?

Note that another quick way would be to introduce chemical high nitrogen fertilizer but that would defeat the efforts towards “organic” gardening.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13947
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

My thoughts too. It sounds like it is spread out. I might be better to mound it up, add the greens and starter as Applestar has mentioned and treat it like a compost pile to accelerate decomposition. It would warm faster in a 3x3x3 foot pile than flat. Composting organisms and soil organisms in general will slow down in the cold so it still may take 4-6 months to decompose. It won't be pretty, but unless it is too wet, it doesn't sound like it is, take the tarp off. It should not smell if the pile is balanced, but it won't be pretty to your prissy neighbors.

Another way would take more work, but be "invisible" to the neighbors would be trench
composting. It would still take time, but composting will be happening underground, so there is no odor, no turning, and it still will take six months or more to complete.



Return to “Composting Forum”