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  • Age of viable agricultural material

    Created by Jim Anderson on November 2, 2016 at 11:25 am

    Hello,

    I have a rather sizable amount of agricultural waste that is organic and entirely compost-able. The thing is that it has NOT been through the composting process. Some of the material that is there would be two-three years old. There is fresher material on top of this (this is grape pomace and stems and such from a winery). Is the whole lot viable to compost or do we need to dispose of it and begin afresh? I would like to compost the whole lot if possible even if the resulting compost is not necessarily of commercial grade quality but would be at least a form of soil that could still be utilized on marginal/non-commercial parts of the property. Any answers or suggestions would be appreciated.

    Thanks.

    Jim Anderson
    Patricia Green Cellars

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  • November 3, 2016 at 6:36 am #215600

    Eric Vinje
    Keymaster

    Hi Jim,

    It should still be possible to compost the entire pile of grape pomace. It may be beneficial to add manure to the pile to introduce microbes that will re-invigorate the decomposition process. You will need to be sure to turn the compost pile frequently to aerate it. It will also help to hose down the pile occasionally to provide moisture for the composting microbes. As you stated, it will be best if you use the compost on the marginal parts of the property, as it will not be commercial grade. I’ve included a link to our article on building a compost pile:

    https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/making/compost-pile/.

    Hope this helps!

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