More compost in less time, thermal composting is the answer.
Composting is a topic of growing interest throughout the country. Why composting? There are a number of reasons.
Composting provides a way not only of reducing the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of, but also of converting it into a product that is useful for gardening, landscaping, or house plants.
Composting provides a partial solution to an issue of great concern in many communities. All around the country, landfills are filling up, garbage incineration is becoming increasingly unpopular, and other waste disposal options are becoming ever harder to find.
Composting provides an incredible resource for educational observations and ends with a usable product that helps rebuild depleted soil
The vast bulk of the decomposition work in compost is carried out by microorganisms including fungi, bacteria, and actinomycetes (organisms that resemble fungi but actually are filamentous bacteria). Microbes can be plated for the study of individual species, or their populations can be charted through something as simple as daily temperature measurements.
Under optimal conditions, a compost pile will heat up to temperatures in the range of 50-65°C (120-150°F), caused by the metabolic heat of the microbes. You can see evidence of this when a steamy mist rises from your compost pile as you turn it or dig into it.
At 145 degrees we recommend turning the compost pile in order to prevent the compost pile from becoming anaerobic. When the compost pile becomes anaerobic a new unwanted group of bacteria will dominate the compost leaving it with an ammonia smell. The ammonia smell is the nitrogen that we want to keep being released as a gas into the air.
Good thermally generated compost can be completed in about 30 days.