Page 101 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 9

FARMING GOD'S WAY

turns. The temperature goes down Indicators of Good Compost
after each turn and rises again until After 2 months the turning pro- Diagram 2
the next turn. This cycle will con- cess is complete, but it should be Utilizing the Compost
tinue until all the nitrogen in the pile left to cure thoroughly for another For maize, dig the holes to 15 cm
has been utilized. If you followed the 4 months before you can use it. deep, then place 350 ml per planting
guideline ingredient volumes of 15 When complete, your compost station and cover with soil to a 5 cm
bags of manure, then the compost should be a dark brown color, smell remainder. The yield potential using
will get hot enough for adequate de- sweet and rich have a crumbly struc- good quality compost is well over 5
composition and also will be matur- ture and you should be able to see tons per hectare and the cost of pro-
ing and cooling after 6-8 weeks. thick fungal strands. When mature, ducing it is only labour used. The
Mixing the compost can be stored as is for record yield with Farming God's
Mix the different materials thor- years without degrading or losing its Way using compost only on virgin
oughly and bring the materials on nutrients. You don’t need to turn it soils has been 8 tons per hectare.
the outsides into the centre so that it anymore, but remember to check Compost is the input that we should
also gets exposure to high tempera- the moisture levels regularly. At this see on every farm field as we teach
tures. When turning the pile, test to stage your compost will be in the farmers faithfulness with what God
see whether it is moist enough, as a form of stable organic nutrients and in His all sufficiency has put in our
lot of moisture is lost as steam and inoculum. hand.
these needs to be replaced. Try to
keep the moisture content of your
compost at 50%. You can test this by
squeezing it in your hand. If mois-
ture drips out, it is too wet. If no wa-
ter drips out, but on opening your
hand the material does not hold its
shape, then it is too dry, so add water.
If squeezed, and no extra moisture
drips out and on opening the hand
the material holds its form, then it
is close to the desired 50% moisture
content. Leave a gentle slope on the
top of the pile and place thatch grass
or grain bags on top to keep excess
rain water off the pile, which can
cool the pile too much.

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