Wednesday, March 17, 2010

There was no fog this morning; this is steam rising from the mulch piles generated by the exothermy of composting

Tne newly chipped wood and greenwaste were steaming crazily this morning....just the right combination of heat generated by the composting process, moisture in the piles, and cool air temperatures. I have pictures similar to this taken in Hawaii around volcanic vents. This is largely just steam though (no toxic vapors). Sometimes piles do heat up enough to ignite but not this one today.

Lynn was at the brickyard this morning and recalled an interesting idea that Dr. Cathy, retired director of USNA, had conceived. Namely that we ought to build a roof to cover the piles with a dragon head at one end so that on these kinds of days, the steam would vent through the dragon's mouth. I wish that had been my idea.

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