Is there a substitute for sunshine to get a mulch container activated?

Question

We have a large mulch container we've been filling for over a year with kitchen scraps, yard clippings, ashes, etc., but the mulch has not been "cooking." Our only possible location for the container is in the shade, and our climate is mild summers and moderately cold winters. Is there anything we can do to make up for the lack of sunshine for our mulch? We haven't been able to find any commercial products at the garden stores or on-line. Thanks.

Answer 1

You don't need sunshine to activate your compost pile but you do need temperatures of 50 degrees or more to get your materials cooking. Any temp consistently dipping into the 40's whether it be day or night signals the end of the composting season until next spring. You also need equal parts of nitrogen to mix with your dry materials. In the fall when the leaves have dropped, I rake and bag them saving them for the next mulching season. When its time to cut grass, use the clippings, for the nitrogen you need and mix with the dry leaves. Other "ingredients" for the wet, you can use are vegetable scraps, raw, such as lettuce, cucumber peel, potato peelings and the such. Never use cooked foods and especially never add anything with any grease on it. For the dry items I've used shredded paper and hair clippings that my hair dresser has saved for me. The proper ashes to use is from the fireplace, that comes from logs. Charcoal ashes are not really so good. Be sure and turn the compost daily or every other day so that the grass and other wet items don't mold.

Answer 2

You do not need sunshine to get the compost started. A little horse manure is best, but almost any organic dirt will do it.

If you can dig a few holes, particularly near the bottom, shove some manure in them.

How about moisture? The compost wants to be moist, but not soaked. I stick a piece of pipe in mine and drop a tubular thermometer down on a string. Once I know it is heating, I just leave it alone. Fortunately mine is on a hill, so I can scoop out the residue, and let the rest work. I do not turn it over. I sometimes wonder if ashes do not slow the process, or maybe even kill it. Mine seems to work better without. I spread ashes on the garden.

Answer 3

Composting works best when there is a good mix of materials containing carbon such as dried leaves and nitrogen such as green plant material. The addition of finished compost or garden soil will add living organisms. Turning the pile occasionally adds oxygen that the organisms need to thrive. It's these items that get a pile cooking. Ours are located in a shady corner of the yard and they work just fine.

Visit our website for our report on composting at-
http://www.gardening-at-the-crossroads.com/compost.html

Good Luck and Happy Gardening from Cathy and Neal!

Answer 4

a moistened pile and the addition of some alfafa pellets (rabbit food) in a couple layers along with some leaves should get things cooking....agree with the manure and some garden soil (they contain the needed microbes)...sunshine doesn't do much for compost.. the heat comes from the compost breaking down chemically, not from sunlight....