Questions Submitted in

Hello, I am an 8th grade math and science teacher.  I missed the Bokashi class, but hope you can answer some questions.

Description of Setup: I put some brown rice in water and waited for it to begin bubbling from the bacteria in it.  I transferred this water into milk.  I waited for the milk to separate into curds and weigh next to other milk that had not been treated (it had smooth curds while the treated milk had curds pocked with gas bubbles a little like Swiss cheese) with rice bacteria.  I poured the liquid from both solutions into a mixture of water and molasses as per an online recipe.  I then poured that onto papers and coconut coir as that was what I had on hand. It is now in a bucket. I have needed to bleed the pressure off every day for the last several days (I am a little surprised this gas does not smell).

I hope to get a bucket of food and layer it with this wet bacteria and coco/paper substrate in order to pickle the waste.  However, I do not understand a couple of things about this process as it has been described.

1. If I put it into a bucket, I am to understand I want anaerobic conditions.  If this is the case, then why should I drain it during the process?  I would think the extra liquid would take up space otherwise filled by air.  Is this a pH issue or something?

2. The soil I have to bury the bucket in is very sandy.  Do I need cellulose like in normal compost?

3. Are there any issues with my method as described above?

4. Are there any good programs or grants you are aware of to encourage gardening/composting in schools?

Thanks for your attention.

My zip code is 87505. I have a multilevel worm bin full of red wigglers that's kept outside on a porch year-round. I'm wondering whether I can relocate my worms to my garden. I grow veggies directly in the ground rather than in raised beds. Will the worms survive OK? Will they benefit the soil? Is there any reason not to let them roam free in the garden? Thank you!

I’m hoping you can help me solve a problem with my worm bin. This is my first year composting, and it started out great. The worms seem to be very happy. However, once my worm bin was full and I stopped adding to it, a large population of small flies/gnats (not sure exactly what they are. But smaller than fruit flies) moved in. I’ve put an apple cider vinegar/dish soap bowl in there to trap them. But I feel like I need a stronger approach. Any advice? [Video was attached for reference. Not included here.]

I have been amending my garden beds in my near West Side soil for years, and this year have been thinking about composting in place with leaves topped with a layer of manure about four inches below the surface. I have some perennial plants in those beds and put seeds in as well. Would this be anaerobic composting?  If so, is this bad for the soil and the root structure of any plants or vegetables that I might plant over those? I have a composter but it attracts coachroaches while composting. I have previously composted kitchen waste in place covered with a light layer of soil, which also attracts roaches. Thanks.

Question received on our Instagram: Will the over 2 million tons of cicadas carcasses help the soil or harm in such a vast quantity? Here is link to a video about this: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5f8NePOe9x/?igsh=OHNwbDQwMHIybmN1

I am planning on a green burial on my own property which has  lots of shale in the ground and I was wondering if I should dig the site first and put in composting material that will be there upon my burial? Your advice will be greatly appreciated. Bucks County Pa

I will be moving out of town later this summer. I was wondering what your composting recommendation is for people moving out of their house. One solution I came up with is to compost as usual up until the last possible minute, then dig a hole and bury my unfinished compost pile in the backyard. What do you recommend?

Hi, I live in zip code 87112.  I attended John Zarola's composting class this past weekend at Hubbel House. My setup is this: I live in a condominium with really very little space to compost, I have been doing vermicomposting on my patio in a 10-gal rubbermaid storage bin, I got the worms from Soilutions. It has worked well for over a year, however I have far more stuff to put in than I dare to, in such a small bin. I would like to switch to a cold process tower bin composter. However, I have almost no browns to put in, I have only a LOT of greens, kitchen scraps because I cook with a lot fresh veggies and fruits, so I have a lot of off-cuts and citrus fruit peels.  I can collect a few dry leaves and twigs, but since the landscape company does all the yard work around here, and hauls away the cuttings,  I definitely dont have enough bowns to come anywhere close to the greens. My question is: what happens when one has a finished product very rich in nitrogen? Is it still useable compost? Any suggestions on what to do?

Interested in test the soil in my garden

I just saw a mouse in my composting bin. I have it caulked, taped, shut with wire and hardware cloth on the ground below it. What should I do?

I’m new to Albuquerque and hoping to build a hot compost bin for my property. My problem is that I am having trouble finding plans for closed bins, without wire sides online. I saw a presentation online from you all here: https://www.nmcomposters.org/_files/ugd/9ed432_dcb7a903f05245c39ffa436a6919480b.pdf

It looks like exactly what I was hoping to build. Any chance you have the plans for it?

I just discovered the NMSU webinar series and watched John Zarola's great lecture on composting from October of 2023. I learned SO much! Here are a few questions I hope you'll have a moment to help me with (I live in Albuquerque by the way).

1. So, just before I watched the lecture I had sifted out all the soil from my little pile and returned the bulk materials to the area along with about 4 cups of green material.

However...I had not been adding the correct ratio of brown material to the pile all along, so I am wondering if I should return what I've sifted out and add the brown matter and let it sit a little longer..?

2. I probably had not kept the entire pile moist on a consistent basis. I'd add water about 2-3 times per week and had only covered it over with some dried twigs as a sort of "roof." So, is the composted soil OK since I hadn't added water consistently and kept it covered better?

3. Is it OK to use compost in indoor plants?

4. Last question: what's the best way to store the soil while I'm waiting to begin a container garden in the spring?

It's funny but I had written "soil" on my to do list this weekend, planning only to combine adn store my potting mixes for the winter...then I read the Valencia County News Bulletin on line (I write the Paw it Forward column) and discovered all this great gardening information. I'm psyched!

Thanks in advance for anyone having the time to help me along with this.

Please, can you help? We’re looking for an agricultural manufacturer where we can order fertilised soil by the ton near Deeming, NM. Our intentions are to build a food forest for the homestead. And if it’s fruitful enough, to provide natural produce locally. We were hoping to find a source that mixes well with the wild-vastly found caliche.

I have been pulling up a lot of Russian Thistle from my yard and I want to compost it.  Rather than just add it to my compost pile I want to “bake” it first to kill the seeds.  I put down a black tarp and put the weeds on top of that and covered with a clear tarp.  However, the temperature does not seem to be getting to the 130-150 F range.  I have thought about creating a “solar oven” which is what the tarps are supposed to simulate.  Maybe I need to create something more oven-like. Do you have recommendations on how to do this?  Any publications you can point me to? FYI, I am a Santa Fe Master Gardener and plan to take the Composting class when it is available. Thanks for any information you can provide.

Where can you purchase a “breathable” compost cover? Is a non-porous cover aka a tarp for winter months?

Is it OK to continue composting outside in winter? If yes, any adjustments? I’m in Santa Fe.

I'm a part of the LOBO Gardens class at UNM and we're hoping to spread information on compost tea, but I have some questions, and hope that you'll be able to respond with some advice! How would one go about making about two gallons worth of compost tea? I assume we'll need to aerate the mixture but am not sure what I should use for that process. We'd like to create informational flyers and pass out the final tea result in mason jars to anyone interested in boosting their soil health, but I'm wondering if the end of November will even be an appropriate time for that? If now isn't the best time to add compost tea to a garden but we still want to teach about the process, could people keep the tea in the jar until it's proper application time?

I attended a Composting in the Desert class in Rio Rancho NM last weekend. Can this information I received apply to my son’s family in Colorado? I wanted to share this information I received with them? Or is they other composting websites that I can use?

I recently purchased coffee from Costco.  The label shows that the pods and the bags are "Commercially Compostable Only".  Is this something that is available in the Albuquerque area?