Composter Completes a Cycle: Amazing Results

Well, it took longer than I thought, but Green Johanna yielded its first major harvest in April, 2010.

I could have used it sooner, but decided that it was doing just fine sitting around in the composter.  My guesstimate for how much I got: 4 cubic yards.  It was enormous. 

I augmented the soil of 1 large raised bed, all of my 7 artichoke plants, a small raised bed and a good portion of an ornamental section of my yard.  My camera has been on the fritz, or I’d have pictures.

Johanna produces its compost slowly, but the yield is impressive!

My First Green Johanna Compost Harvest

I harvested finished compost from the Johanna, nearly 11 months after I first got it.  I could have done this sooner, but have been distracted by family issues.

So, here it is, spread out around my fruit trees.  I like to put this down and then a layer of mulch on top for winter.

It wasn’t much.  Perhaps 1/2 cubic yard.  But it is at least enough to feed the trees. 

Some observations:

1. the compost became very compacted under

Bones, wine corks, bio bags all had a difficult time breaking down in the Green Johanna

the weight of the stuff above it.  It took me nearly an hour to dig it out.  Not so good

2.   there were lots of roots in the compost – so apparently, I didnt’ get it hot enough.

3.  Harvesting from the bottom is difficult.

4. bones did not break down, but I don’t think they would attract vermin in the state they were in (see picture left).

5. bio bags do not break down entirely.

6.  wine corks don’t break down at all. (see picture left)

 

This harvest has only bolstered my opinion that the Johanna works, but it is not the beginner’s composter.  I still love mine, but I’ve had to invest a lot more time and energy into composting than the marketing materials would have you think.  My bottom line:  the ability to put “no-no”s in the composter still outweighs the drawbacks.

 

Johanna update

Shortly before leaving on vacation, I noticed that the temperature inside Johanna had dropped, and that it seemed too “brown” from all the wood shavings. So, I added some more greens and a few other items (no-no’s). I’m happy to report that upon our return, I added some additional kitchen scraps, and stirred it with the pitchfork and found a multitude of earthworms squishing around. And it’s steaming again. Yay! It’s active again and we should have a good crop by October, I hope.

UPDATE 8/19/09:  I’ve been adding coffee grounds, banana peels, fruit peels etc. since our return from vacation, and stirring the contents to mix the juicy stuff downward.  Not only are there a lot of worms, the wood shavings I had used in excess this spring to minimize flies is now visibly transforming into compost.  Woo hoo!

This is getting OLD.

flies.

Update 3/21:  I covered the compost mix (fruit flies like you would not believe!) with about 1/2 cu. yard of topsoil.  I also finally figured out where to get saw dust – the pet store.

Got a 4.0 cubic ft. bag of pine bedding.  I already decided that this first crop would go on non-edible plants since I’ve done so much experimenting.  I don’t know if pine bedding is made from wood that has bad stuff – probably not because it’s for animals, but just to be safe, I won’t be calling this “organic” compost.

Update 3/25: I added the dirt, then a load of kitchen waste, with a generous layer of pine bedding.  This morning, I checked, and the fruit flies were unabated.  At lunch, the flies were buzzing happily.  I have a fly haven.

It took a month, but the flies are gone

I noticed, and posted a couple of times that I had flies.  They are tough to get rid of.  The booklet and online faqs all recommend covering the offending items thoroughly and adjusting the air flow of the lid.

I first covered with dirt.  Not enough dirt, I guess.  No luck, lots of flies.

Then, I tried ripped paper bags.  No luck.

Then, we tried egg carton.  No luck.

Then, I got a dry root fruit tree and found that the roots had been packed in wood shavings.  hmmmm.

This finally worked.  But there are still flies inside – just far fewer.

The lesson:  don’t get flies.  Cover your weekly kitchen scraps, especially the meat/bones stuff thoroughly with sawdust or bron yard waste, and a lot of it.

Composting Table

Blurp...the table digests your leftovers and you can watch it!

The Digestive Table.  This got a big laugh out of me.  It is only for the most extreme compost nerds.

A friend sent me the link.  Thank you, Adam!

Do you have a worm compost bin? Would you like to blog it’s progress?

Worm composting is an efficient way to get high quality compost for the garden. If you are a worm composter, I invite you to post to this blog and comment on how it works, what it’s like to live with worms and challenges you’ve faced in learning about the vermicomposting method.

If you are interested, send me a comment!

worms!

Now, Johanna Has a Manure Smell

Oh great, this isn’t going so well right now.   This morning, I added some kitchen waste and poked, and got a strong whiff of Flossie the Cow. Shazam!

manure

In reading thru the faqs, the manual and everything else I could find, I blamed my husband.  Okay, not really, but I think that the current manure smell, mold, slime, flies, etc.  all stem from the same original issue:  for about 2 weeks, my husband Matt was the sole depositor in the Johanna.  I never took the time to explain some of the finer points to the poor guy, so with a few brief statements from me, he took the bull by the horns, so to speak.

When I finally got off my butt and started taking a more active role in the composting process, what I found was that he was busy adding “greens” (kitchen waste – high in nitrogen) without layering, and he was adding water each time he made an addition.  Not his fault, since I didn’t explain.  The results came in stages:  first, it was just slimy.  Then, it started smelling musty, then there was mold and fuzz, then flies, and finally, manure smell.   Heck, there may be something after that, I don’t know.  Despite all this, it’s all correctable, and is no big deal.

So here’s what I’m doing to get the compost back on the right track: 

First, I explained to my husband (no, I didn’t nag) that he needs to spread out the compost – not just dump the bag.  Then, cover it with some browns (even just a torn up paper bag).  Don’t add water unless it looks a little dry.  Poke it and cover it back up.  Lesson:  If you end up choosing a Johanna, make sure that everyone in the household knows how to maintain the composter.

Second, I poked, turned, poked and turned.  Lesson:  aerate your compost.

Third:  I added mature compost (from my cheap composter) plus some peat moss.  Lesson:  slimy, smelly moldy – all these are signs that there is too much nitrogen, not enough carbon.  The compost and peat moss will even that up, and the peat moss will soak up some of the excess moisture.  The flies are still there, but diminishing. 

Now, I’m back to my indoor project: painting the kitchen.

Questions, questions

I found a great faq on the johanna. Bookmark this faq if you use the Green Johanna.

Practical Johanna Tip

When you dump your kitchen waste, immediately cover it up with “browns” whether that be a torn up paper bag, sawdust, dry leaves etc.

This may seem obvious to some, but we didn’t realize that creating the layer instantly will help supress odor, flies and over-wetness.