Thanks for the reply. The thing is, I don't know how small to shred compost material! I find that making compost with unshredded material just increases the amount of work, especially when turning. We do everything by hand, so need to make composting making as easy on the body as possible.
Also, due to South Africa's semi-arid climate, the rate of soil organic matter mineralization is more than 5 times that in Europe. Conservative estimates mentioned during a conference last week ranged from 200 - 300 tons per hectare in year 1, 100 tons for the next two years, before repeating the cycle again. Some farmers double those amounts. Thus, optimised compost making, with minimised energy and labour inputs are essential. Therefore sieving is just an extra handling process, which I don't want to get into. I have had this experience in an urban garden and simply cannot afford to go that route now that I am working a larger area. Care to expand on your ideas of a roller / crusher? Thanks Stephen Barrow -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 1:14 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Shredders for composting Why do you want to shred something so small??? It would be gone soon anyway. If it is not done, screen and re-compost. You would be better of with a slow moving heavy weight roller to crush and expose more surface area, less parts to wear and bend and fix. SStorch
