'New Zeland Box' Composting
Derek Jones at a talk in 2010 spoke about composting and recommended the ‘New Zealand Box’ model of containers. This is a simple box of a roughly a cubic yard attached to another one. It was best to collect lots of waste vegetation to one side in a heap and when there was enough to fill the box, to do just that.
To this, 1 gallon of water and some gypsum should be added. After 4 days the lid should come off and the contents turned into the next box. This process, which mixes air into the contents, is then repeated as necessary. The Ph of the compost should be 6.8, ie neutral and enough gypsum added to attain this. Derek uses an electronic meter to test this. This could be done right up to the 21st day. When nothing can be identified any more in the heap, it is ready for use. This method uses heat to speed up the process but even so no virus infected plants should go in the heap or cooked food, which attracts rats.
Follow this link for a more detailed guide to building the box.
To this, 1 gallon of water and some gypsum should be added. After 4 days the lid should come off and the contents turned into the next box. This process, which mixes air into the contents, is then repeated as necessary. The Ph of the compost should be 6.8, ie neutral and enough gypsum added to attain this. Derek uses an electronic meter to test this. This could be done right up to the 21st day. When nothing can be identified any more in the heap, it is ready for use. This method uses heat to speed up the process but even so no virus infected plants should go in the heap or cooked food, which attracts rats.
Follow this link for a more detailed guide to building the box.