garden experts??????

[historian]

Can anyone give me hints about composting? I live in a desert area with thick clay soil as well as sandy areas.
Also I have grape tree which produce sweet grapes which seem to be shrinking in size every harvest!
Any suggestions pls?
Thanks

[wryter2000]

1. Invest in a composter

They don't cost much. I have a Smith and Hawken composter. In our county in CA, you can get a subsidy on a composter. I guess the logic is that if people do their own composting, they'll use the country composting facilities less. (We separate our garden refuse from our garbage.)

Bear in mind if you compost, your compost will have seeds in it. I wouldn't recommend using it for potting soil, but it'll be great to help your soil. I don't grow grapes. Can't help you there.

[flamingyouth]

2. We have that same composter too

So far, we really like it, but we're new to this house and to the composter.

Do you have a worm bed? Someone suggested yesterday that we should get one.

[BiggJawn]

6. Get the compost to "light-off"

Need more green matter in the pile. What you want to do is get some anaerobic decomposition going. I measured a pile I had at 190 degrees once. it was a 7-foot tall bin of leaves and grass clippings that worked down to 2 feet high.

The heat will "cook" the weed seeds, preventing them from growing when you use the compost. but you need green stuff to initiate the process. just plain autumn leaves won't get hot enough. Be sure when you turn the pile to get the outside inside and add some more greens to keep it cooking...

BiggJawnn, your friendly (sometimes) neighbourhood Backyard Habitat Steward and Master Gardener Groupie...

[wryter2000]

3. Also, look here

http://www.howtocompost.org

[Alpharetta]

4. call your county extension office

they can give you the best hints for your environment

I'm concerned about how arid it is there because watering the compost is a must to get the biomass cooking. any way you can get waste water from your house to the compost pile?

here's a good Composting 101 link. http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_soil_water_mulch/article/0,,HGTV_3634_1399002,00.html

my advice: if it's out of sight of the street and neighbors, you don't need a fancy compost bin. use chicken wire and some stakes.

I love the smell of compost. Nature's karma.

good luck!

[phaseolus]

5. Are you pruning the grape vine?

I think it needs a careful pruning to ensure a good crop of good fruit. Find a book on pruning that shows what to do with grape vines; I think it's more complicated than hacking away at random.

I read about composting a while ago and the important thing seemed to be keeping a balance between "green" stuff and "brown" stuff in the pile, basically balancing carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich material. There's an optimum ratio but lots of different proportions work. Don't add anything fatty from the kitchen, it doesn't compost. Mix it once in a while and don't let it get bone dry.

There's lots of composting information out there, but author Jerry Baker is widely considered to be a crank. And that Rudolf Steiner stuff seems more like ritual magic to me than honest gardening, but to each his own.