Actually, its kinda half and half. No chemical amendments per se except I mix 1 can of Budweiser, 1 can of coke, and 1 cup of dish soap in a sprayer I attach to my hose and water down the pile as I build each layer... for those who don't know the soap breaks down the cellular walls in freshly added clippings/plant material, budwieser feeds the microbes nutrition, coke gets all the bacteria and microbes multiplying like rabbits.

My original pile (the beginning 4-5 feet of the 20+ foot monster pile) I left as is for a month and then turned it out and noticed a lot of red worms had come and made the bottom of the pile their home naturally. I was so happy a smile ran across my face. So I now have both techniques working for me.

My phase II composter I now use just for pasturizing the end compost of a slow run and for bulk pasturizing straws until I get time to get a temperature probe and temperature controller to do exact fast composting runs of horse manure.

[This message has been edited by The Learner (edited June 21, 2000).]

What's the scoop?