DAY 9: 12 Days of HOTBIN Composting Christmas Tips
DAY 9: Chestnuts Roasting – Composting at Christmas
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire was an American tradition evoking images of Christmas through the 18th and 19th centuries. Although vendors on city street corners selling roasted chestnuts during Christmas are fewer since a disease made American chestnut trees extinct; the tradition is still alive on certain parts of the country (New York City).
If you get around to roasting your chestnuts on an open fire this Christmas, know that chestnuts and other nuts can go in a HOTBIN.
What to know? All nuts are designed by nature to resist bacterial breakdown with the shell being the obvious barrier. To speed up the process of breakdown, break them up before they go into the HOTBIN. If using a hammer, be careful and take sensible precautions.
If roasting marshmallows instead —although we doubt there will be any left overs— they can also be composted. If you have roasted them, the hot ash should not be added to the bin. However, small cold quantities can be beneficial as charcoal is a natural form of carbon. Too much however can turn compost strongly alkaline and could block airflow in the bin.
Leftover logs and wood that you don’t intend on burning this season, can be added to a chipper and be made into your own bulking agent (mulch). Bulking agent is an essential part of hot composting that keeps waste aerated and bacteria happily breaking it down into delicious compost for your garden.
About temperature, if Jack Frost is nipping at your nose and you are feeling a little chilly you could hug a HOTBIN for warmth with inside temperatures reaching 104-140°F.
While we are joking about hugging your HOTBIN for warmth this winter… remember that you can use HOTBIN’s kick-start bottle should it need a heat boost during the freezing winter.
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