I really enjoy “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers. It’s a nice, serene escape to what could be. What other books help you relax and maintain a positive outlook?
I LOVE Becky Chambers! Working my way through the Wayfarers books and will read A Psalm soon. Super excited about it.
The books that help me keep a positive outlook are generally non-fiction books that help readers to become part of the solution in some way. Quoting David Holmgren in his book Retrosuburbia, “Focusing on our own behaviour avoids being disempowered by a sense that society seems generally blind and/or mad in relation to the real issues of our time.” So in addition to the fiction of Becky Chambers I’d add:
Hi friends and comrades! What are you working on these days? I’m really interested in praxis and in new ideas of what to do in real life to advance towards a solarpunk future....
I did really well last winter then got out of the habit when it got warmer (I have a thing about smells).
Can you describe your setup? A properly maintained compost bin doesn’t smell at all.
How to make one: take some fencing (you can get it for free from Craigslist) and make a bin a little over 1 meter tall and roughly 1 or 2m around, outside, on top of soil. Put dead dry plants or leaves inside on the bottom at least half a meter deep. That’s your sponge material to keep certain things from leaking into the soil. Now it’s ready to start taking inputs like toilet material, kitchen and yard scraps, dead animals, etc. Form a hole in the center with a pitchfork or other tool and put all inputs into that hole. Then put cover material on top of the freshly added material. Good cover materials are hay, straw or leaves, and they prevent smells. This cover material should also be present on the sides of the bin. Finally, get a compost thermometer and stick it in the middle of the material. The goal should be to get the temperature above 120F/49C. This will take a good amount of material and consistently adding it through the winter.
Pathogen destruction is a function of time and temperature. Generally speaking, a compost bin at 140F/60C for an hour will kill most pathogens, or 130F/55C for a day, or 120F/49C for a week. And generally, compost bins will hold a peak temperature for between 24-72 hours before slowly dropping again, while adding fresh material will make the temperature rise again. Part of the reason time matters is because it isn’t just heat that kills pathogens - it’s also compost microorganisms that physically kill pathogens in the bin.
Getting compost very hot like 160F/71C like you say will kill pathogens quickly but it’s not only unnecessary, it’s also harmful, as a lower temperature will result in a more diverse culture of bacteria in the finished compost. Personally I aim for about 140F/60C.
And anyway, note that I said above 120F. It sounded like the GP was having issues with their compost that made me think that 120F would be a reasonable target to shoot for given their current situation.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
I really enjoy “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers. It’s a nice, serene escape to what could be. What other books help you relax and maintain a positive outlook?
What Are You Working On?
Hi friends and comrades! What are you working on these days? I’m really interested in praxis and in new ideas of what to do in real life to advance towards a solarpunk future....