Composting makes good use of waste

Composting on a large scale requires more than a shovel and pitchfork, but is doable if you have some space, a tractor and a source of water.

Willows Ranch, on Indian Ford Road, began composting three years ago. Ranch manager, Allan Godsiff, chose a spot away from the main ranch activity areas and set up a static pile system. He built two bins along a fence line to start the process, but the piles go through six turns on their way to completion.

"The most important things to think about are having enough space to maneuver the tractor and having water available," he said. Water is a crucial ingredient, to keep the piles damp but not soggy, and the temperature difference between a pile that has dried out and one that's been aerated with turning and with water added is significant. Godsiff uses a compost thermometer to monitor temperatures. Higher temperatures generally mean faster decomposition.

The site is located away from riparian areas and has space adjacent to the turning piles for the completed compost to cure until it's put on the pastures. It's applied with the manure spreader in the fall.

"There's a bit of trial and error," Godsiff said. "One pile had too many stall shavings in it to decompose properly, so it's used as mulch in the landscaping on the ranch."

High Country Disposal, the Redmond company collecting yard debris from Sisters residents, operates the only commercial composting site in Deschutes County. Located at the Knott Landfill, the site produces compost that is independently tested by the US Composting Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the composting industry.

The grass clippings, weeds and garden prunings stuffed into the large blue bins travel a well-proven route back to gardens and lawns via the HCD composting operation.

According to Brad Bailey, HCD president, the yard debris is collected locally and accumulates at a dump site near the Sisters sewage treatment ponds. When the pile is large enough, the company brings in a grinder and puts the debris through its first cycle. The resulting mulch is available for the city to use, though there is a slight possibility of non-organic debris to be included at this stage.

"Sometimes a plastic bag or similar gets accidentally included in the yard debris bins," said Bailey.

It's also fairly woody, more like hog fuel, said Bailey.

If there is no request for the mulch locally, it is trucked to the composting site where it undergoes approximately five months of processing. It is mixed with yard debris mulch from the other cities HCD services. The material is laid out in windrows and has water added to it. It is turned at intervals using a front-end loader, with more water added at each turn to keep it at 'wet sponge' moisture level. The turning stimulates aerobic activity which aids the decomposition of the organic material.

Compost reaches maturity when the temperature doesn't fluctuate much after turning, staying at around 90 degrees, and the material looks dark and uniform. When it's at that stage, it goes through a screening process.

Reject material from the first screening "goes away then," said Bailey.

It is usually added to the landfill and aids in the landfill process.

The resulting compost is tested, and a portion is rescreened through a smaller screen, creating compost that is fine enough to be used on lawns and turf. The screenings from that process is used as mulch.

The three grades of compost that HCD sells are marketed as Soil Builder, Bio-Fine and Premium Mulch and are available for self-haul or delivery from the Knott Landfill site.

While composting is a scientific process, it is one that happens naturally. Human intervention just speeds things up a bit.

For more information on HCD compost, visit http://www.highcountrydisposal.com and click the "Services" tab.