Aerated Static Pile Composter at Long's Iris Gardens

A detailed tour of Long's Iris Gardens' new aerated static pile composter, designed and funded with help from Eco-Cycle. Farm manager Randy Pistacchio covers construction, operation, loading, monitoring, odors, and recommendations for the composter.
To learn more about Eco-Cycle's work to create a community composting system that starts with on-farm composting, go to ecocycle.org/our-programs/com....
If you are interested in partnering with Eco-Cycle to put an aerated static pile system on your Boulder County farm (like the one at Long’s or bigger), contact Dan Matsch, Compost Director, at Eco-Cycle. An on-farm compost feedstock such as animal manure/bedding is required. Eco-Cycle is especially looking for CSAs or direct marketers interested in offering a kitchen scrap drop-off for their customers.

[@neilrobinson888]

Great video.. very Informative.

[@racebiketuner]

Very cool. Thanks for uploading.

[@williamharris5126]

Wonder if you could bury a rainbird in the top of it and have it come on on the same time

[@user-bq7dj6um9p]

I am interested in how much water your system uses (Rainwater and city water combined ) per cubic meter of input. I am exploring static pile composters for use in greywater removal for tiny houses. The idea would be to exclude rainwater and substitute with greywater. Any help is appreciated.

[@citizensciencesoilhealthpr7586]

The aerated static pile at Long's is not watered very frequently as it involves dragging hoses from a distance. I'm not sure how much water you can apply to the pile without an adverse effect. With greywater, one thing to be aware of is the additional phosphorous and nitrates that may be in greywater from soaps and other household chemicals. Applying greywater to a pile could add these nutrients to the compost, which may or may not be desirable.

[@ThePlantDoctorGlobal]

Hi. What’s the power rating of your blower and what’s the size of your solar generator?

[@citizensciencesoilhealthpr7586]

200w solar powering a 500w portable battery. 3.2A/120V (standard plug) Blower plugged into Timer with battery backup. Portable LiFePO4 batteries have gotten cheaper and with better storage capacity even in the last year than when we got this one. MC4 (solar connectors) and MC4 to 8mm adapter (goes into battery generator).

[@SiarlW]

Had the same question. I manage an active composting program for a large community garden. We don’t have power at our farm but want to incorporate ASP to our composting program. Thanks for sharing this info along with the video.