Page 100 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 9

FARMING GOD'S WAY

to fertiliser usage. Woody materials include maize Turning the Pile
What is Compost? cobs, stalks, branches, cardboard Within 3 days, the compost pile
Compost is simply decomposed or- and wood shavings, while dry mate- will have heated up and needs to be
ganic matter that has been broken rial includes thatch grass, leaves and turned. The best way to do this is to
down by micro organisms, especial- weeds. mix the pile into the adjoining 2m
ly bacteria and fungi. To ensure that To summarise the ingredients we *2m position, using a fork or a hoe.
our compost is of the highest qual- need: 15 bags of manure and an The turning process maintains the
ity we must follow strict standards equal split of 45% green to 45% correct temperature, mixes all the
and stick to the recipe. We suggest a woody dry. The materials should ingredients, brings material on the
compost pile size of 2m long by 2m be piled separately until such time outside to the inside, aerates the pile
wide by 2m high. as enough of each material has been with oxygen and allows for moisture
This is small enough for a single accumulated. Collecting enough ma- levels to be checked and adjusted if
person to work in a few hours, while terial to build a pile takes time, so necessary. If the pile is not turned it
allowing for adequate internal tem- you must just plan properly. Farmers will become anaerobic, have a bad
perature of the pile. This compost should get themselves into groups of smell and result in poor quality com-
volume will easily be enough for an five to pray and help one another. post.
acre or half a hectare of maize. It is
not recommended that you reduce Building the Pile Temperature
the size below 1.5 m cubed. When building the pile, it is very im- The compost gets hot very quickly
portant that the right ratios are main- because of all the bacterial activity.
Ingredients tained. The simplest way to achieve The ideal temperature of the com-
Compost is made of three main this is to build using alternate layers post should be maintained between
ingredients nitrogen, green and a of the 3 main ingredients. Dunk the 55C to 68C for 3 days, to kill all
woody/dry component. green and woody/dry materials in a seeds and unwanted pathogens. If
container of water before you place you don’t turn your compost, the
1) Nitrogen Component: Nitrogen is them, so that you wet the layers thor- temperature can easily reach 70C,
the fuel of the compost pile and gets oughly. A good wetting at the outset which is too hot and kills off the de-
the bacteria going. The Nitrogen will mean you will probably only sirable microbes, as well as burning
component should make up 10% of need to add water maybe once or up and wasting carbon. The most
your pile and you can use 15 bags twice in the 2 month process. accurate way to determine the tem-
of manure. If there is no manure in Start with 20 cm of woody dry, then perature is by using a temperature
your area then you can use 4 m3 of place 20 cm of green, then 2 bags of probe. Turn the pile before the tem-
legumes for this and just adjust your well wetted manure on top of that. perature reaches 70C.
green and woody/dry components Continue repeating the layers until A cheap alternative would be to use
accordingly you get to the 2m height. an 8 mm steel rod. After inserting
Diagram 1 it for a few minutes see if you can
2) Green Component: Green leaves hold on to it
are the source of sugars, which are for 5 seconds.
necessary for good quality compost. If you can, the
The green component should make temperature is
up 45 % of your pile and anything less than 70, if
that is cut when green, even if it has not it’s ready
dried, is classified as green. for another
turn. A really
3) Woody Dry Component: The simple guide-
woody material really helps to en- line is to turn
courage the fungal growth in the pile the compost
because it breaks down so slowly pile every 3
and keeps the pile aerated, while the days for the
dry material adds bulk. The woody first 3 turns
dry component equals the green and every 10
component and makes up the bal- days for the
ance of 45% of the pile. next 4 or 5

100 | Heal . restore . rebirth . Afrika