COMPOST–A PSEUDO-INTELLECTUAL THEORY
The biggest difference between Austin (where I live now) and Colorado (where I lived forever) is that things rot in Austin. People get pretty polarized about this. I come from a line of anti-rots. My dad, who was stationed at Air Force Bases in both Texas and Colorado, explained that Rotlands contain humidity, big bugs and mildew, while Drylands are crisp and bearable, even at 100 degrees. It’s true. I remember Dryland cocktail hours on the deck after a day of hard gardening, needing a sweater as the sun went down behind the mountains. I also remember the first few months in Austin-going outside to get the paper at 5:30 a.m. and being socked in the face by a rotten, moldy, summer smell, and it was only March.
But, I’m a licensed Master Composter, and it’s very satisfying to make compost in Austin. All compost happens eventually, but it happens a lot faster here. Wrangling three huge bins of greens and browns, I can produce several wheelbarrow loads of finished compost in a month, if I keep up with it.
Not that I keep up with it. Just as there are Rotters and Dryers, there are two kinds of composters-Screeners and Chunkers. The first do what we were taught in Master Composter school: let the compost heat up and cool down, cool, stir, heat, cool, stir, etc., until brown crumbly magnificence results, and finish by screening out the last imperfections. Instead, the compost I make is half-baked, with recognizable chunks, long stringy things, pineapple tops and egg shells. I could sift them out. Well, maybe you could.
To review: people are either Screeners or Chunkers, Rotter or Dryers. From these four classifications, I believe we can extrapolate the beginnings of a new sort of Meyers-Briggs. I am a Rotter/Chunker. And you?
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Just as organic matter breaks down more quickly in Austin compost piles, so it does in our garden beds, too. I’m constantly adding compost and every time I work a bed I’m shocked to find it has reverted to lumps of clay as if no gardener had ever amended it.
My mother is from New Mexico and my whole family lives in Nevada…I’m pretty sure I prefer Dry to Rot, even if I have chosen to live in Austin. (My dad was USAF, too.) I’m certainly not a Master Composter. I just throw everything in and don’t worry about green/brown ratios. However, I do sift before I use it and mix the big chunks back on the new pile.
Seems as if on your gardener’s Myers-Briggs, I’m conflicted.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:39 pm
My husband does the compost, and I’d describe him as a Rotter/Chunker too. However, his favorite trick is to spread out the compost and run over it with a lawn mower to pulverize it.
Seems to work pretty well.
Oh, and I’ve been reading your book. I love it! You’ve made me wish I could be a Rose Rustler to be sure!
April 24th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I think I am a composter failure. I really have not developed a talent for it yet. I was steadily composting kitchen waste this winter and spring but the bugs were getting bad around the compost, so I stalled out for a while. I think I need more green- but had not started mowing yet, so didn’t have anything to contribute. I’ll try to start up again, inspired by your post.
April 28th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I am SO a Rotter/Chunker. I just can’t wait!!
Nancy, be prepared. i read Robin’s book and now have 50+ Antique Roses, some not found in the trade and they threaten to take over my home. It’s all good!
April 29th, 2008 at 5:12 am
i’m afraid that, in the fecund world of composting, i am merely a contributor…..
May 16th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Definitely a Rotter-Chunker. I consider it akin to seeing merit badges on my scout sash when I see bits of meals past (egg shell, partial banana stickers, recognizable bits of fruit rind)scattered throughout my garden. Only criteria is that it must have morphed enough to no longer attract the dogs.