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Step 6The science...
The way this works is a wonderful demonstration of nature's use of Occam's Razor.
Occam's Razor is a doctrine that states that the simplest solution is usually the right/best one.
Composting occurs when naturally-occurring bacteria in the soil (hence the soil I told you to put in) break up the organic matter, relying on oxygen and water as their fuel source. This breaking up of the organic matter releases the nitrates that the plants use to create amino acids, and puts it back into the soil (that I told you to put in) increasing the volume and nutritional value greatly.
Thus, now instead of having to waste time and energy converting potassium nitrite into other forms of nitrogen, the plants have a ready-made source at their finger-tips (root-tips if you will).
Basically - Occam's Razor in a nutshell.
There needs to be a balance between moisture and oxygen in your compost pile/heap/bucket. It's not an exact science, but trial and error will help you along towards being a compost master. You can tell if the bacteria are aerobic (active) as opposed to anaerobic (inactive) by the rotting-garbagey smell that accompanies the latter.
A 10 gallon bucket's worth of compost will take about 4 months to complete, and that is during an Arizona summer, with the average temp well over a 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I actually skipped the last two months of watering and turning my pile, but at that point it was self-sustaining. I have no explanation for it as of yet, but I'll try to figure it out and I will update this -ible when I do.
UPDATE: I have had a comment (kudos to GroovyGuru) about the time it takes to fully compost a certain amount of material. I am sorry if I was misleading in the above paragraph - most sizes of containers will in fact be completed in about 4 months. This is due to the fact that the increased volume allows for more bacteria to be present in the mixture, thus meaning that the bacteria to waste ratio will be almost the same for any amount of compost that you wish to create.
Occam's Razor is a doctrine that states that the simplest solution is usually the right/best one.
Composting occurs when naturally-occurring bacteria in the soil (hence the soil I told you to put in) break up the organic matter, relying on oxygen and water as their fuel source. This breaking up of the organic matter releases the nitrates that the plants use to create amino acids, and puts it back into the soil (that I told you to put in) increasing the volume and nutritional value greatly.
Thus, now instead of having to waste time and energy converting potassium nitrite into other forms of nitrogen, the plants have a ready-made source at their finger-tips (root-tips if you will).
Basically - Occam's Razor in a nutshell.
There needs to be a balance between moisture and oxygen in your compost pile/heap/bucket. It's not an exact science, but trial and error will help you along towards being a compost master. You can tell if the bacteria are aerobic (active) as opposed to anaerobic (inactive) by the rotting-garbagey smell that accompanies the latter.
A 10 gallon bucket's worth of compost will take about 4 months to complete, and that is during an Arizona summer, with the average temp well over a 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I actually skipped the last two months of watering and turning my pile, but at that point it was self-sustaining. I have no explanation for it as of yet, but I'll try to figure it out and I will update this -ible when I do.
UPDATE: I have had a comment (kudos to GroovyGuru) about the time it takes to fully compost a certain amount of material. I am sorry if I was misleading in the above paragraph - most sizes of containers will in fact be completed in about 4 months. This is due to the fact that the increased volume allows for more bacteria to be present in the mixture, thus meaning that the bacteria to waste ratio will be almost the same for any amount of compost that you wish to create.
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