Anyone compost?

[DivaJen]

I have a compost pile. It isn't perfect, but it does give me decent compost to add to my gardens. For over a year DD and I had a worm bin as well, but they got fried in a particularly bad heat wave not too long ago. I'd like to get that going again. Their castings were great for my outside potted plants.

It's nice knowing that kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags and yard waste are going back into the ground and doing some good, instead of the landfill.

[PrincessPerky]

hmm, does tossing that sort of thing into the woods over the hill count?

[DivaJen]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

hmm, does tossing that sort of thing into the woods over the hill count?

It's good for the earth, regardless. It's only unfrugal if it means you're buying compost/mulch instead when you could be making your own. But if you don't ever buy compost/mulch, then there's no need to consider making your own!

[SeeAPenny]

Yes, I've always composted. We eat tons of veggies and fruits, and always have lots of trimmings and peelings to contend with. It would just feel 'wrong' to throw that stuff in the garbage. Still, I'm a lazy composter. I never fiddle with it -- stir it, layer it, water it or any of the things that master gardeners recommend. Still seems to work though....

[kashi]

I plan to compost as soon as I have my own place. I don't think my landlord would appreciate a compost pile outside his window...plus I have nowhere to garden right now, anyway.

[csaville]

I want to compost, but I haven't gotten around to building a bin yet.

[terry1156]

How do you compost? Does throwing the things into a field count, or should you really take the time to turn it and all. How much effort is involved in doing it?

[DivaJen]

Dh built me a make-shift "bin" out of three pallets (the front being open). As for turning it, watering it, putting things on in layers....

I turn it when I happen to think of it.
I water it when I happen to remember.
Layers? Nope. I just toss stuff on and hope for the best.

The very bottom of my pile is awesome - the other day, I dug out what looked like rich, brown earth, only it's compost. My pile could be better, and I could have two or three going, but what I do have, primitive as it is, works.

[terry1156]

Does it smell in the summer time?

[DivaJen]

I don't notice that it smells hardly ever, to be honest. I do have it in a tucked away corner that we aren't always walking by, however, and I live on the coast in So Cal so it never gets blazing hot or real humid here either (if either of those things might matter).

[mom-from-missouri]

Mine doesnt smell either. I do have racoons that visit mine, and often steal from it-But they are kind of fun to watch. I also get some really nice volunteer vegitables that sprout up in it.

[midnight]

Does your compost heap consist mostly of yard waste or food scraps. I have a very small yard and I'm not sure if it would work.

[PrincessPerky]

So if I wanted to do it partly for real would I get to skip the work and just pile the food up? Would I have to have a bin or can I make a wood one? Or would it need to be more solid? I mean I am sure it would make better stuff if I turned it or whatever, but I guarantee I wont! Might pilke dirt on top before company comes though.

[DivaJen]

Originally Posted by midnight

Does your compost heap consist mostly of yard waste or food scraps. I have a very small yard and I'm not sure if it would work.

I add small portions of food scraps every week, and then every so often when I work in the gardens pruning or raking up leaves, I add a big dose of that stuff to the pile. I think ideally your pile is supposed to be 50% "green" materials and 50% "brown".

'Browns' are dry and dead plant materials such as straw, dry brown weeds, autumn leaves, and wood chips or sawdust. These materials are mostly made of chemicals that are just long chains of sugar molecules linked together. As such, these items are a source of energy for the compost microbes. Because they tend to be dry, browns often need to be moistened before they are put into a compost system.

'Greens' are fresh (and often green) plant materials such as green weeds from the garden, kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps, green leaves, coffee grounds and tea bags, fresh horse manure, etc. Compared to browns, greens have more nitrogen in them. Nitrogen is a critical element in amino acids and proteins, and can be thought of as a protein source for the billions of multiplying microbes.

Here's a good link:
http://vegweb.com/composting/how-to.shtml


If you mostly have food scraps, worms would be perfect. I don't suppose everyone is a fan of that idea, but we kind of liked our worms. It was fun to check on them, look for babies, that sort of thing.

[DivaJen]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

So if I wanted to do it partly for real would I get to skip the work and just pile the food up? Would I have to have a bin or can I make a wood one? Or would it need to be more solid? I mean I am sure it would make better stuff if I turned it or whatever, but I guarantee I wont! Might pilke dirt on top before company comes though.

I don't know what work you'd be skipping - piling stuff up is what you do to start your pile. If you have a gardne fork or shovel that you could leave near the pile, that will help you remember to turn it every so often (believe me, I am not religious about turning the pile or watering it on any sort of schedule).

You can just make a pile without any bin or wooden sides, but it's nice to have it in something as it grows. My three pallets have worked very well.

As far as I can remember you're actually not supposed to put dirt in/on your pile.
(Don't know if you were just joking about that or not.)

[PrincessPerky]

I bet my kids would love worms, I so would not want to see them myself, but the kids would like them!

Thanks for the info and link.

I was serious about the dirt and company. somehow a pile of rotting kitchen stuff ruins the veiw when grilling out!

[MargaretKur]

Count me in as one who'd love to if she knew how. Right now I don't have a container and really should start so that by the time the weather gets hot I'll supposedly know what I'm doing and be able to use it for gardening.

As for the worms...no thanks. The thought of them fried in the heat isn't pleasant. (I'm thankful I worked in a hospital so many years that it hasn't fazed me while I eat my dinner! LOL)

I'll check it out and see what the simplest method is.

[suzanne rogalsky]

I compost - but we just have 3 holes in the ground - started at different times. Holes 1 and 2 will be ready to spread this spring and then we will start filling them again - and hole 3 still has a way to go. We have ours behind our shed so we dont really see it or smell it, but we have one very happy groundhog!!

[PrincessPerky]

So I discovered over the weekend your not supposed to put meat and dairy stuff in a compost bin. Never knew that.

Also that most cities offer reduced prices on compost bins, i will have to check out how reduced reduced is around here, but I will prolly stick with dumping it for now.

I like the hole in the ground thing, but my kids play in the yard still (not on the hill where we dump the stuff now) So I would be worried about them getting in it if there was no clear boundry. For a 2 and 1 year old it needs to be VERY clear!

[mom-from-missouri]

Composting is very very simple. I have 4 metal posts in the ground, with about $2 of chicken wire around 3 sides of it. All I put in mine is yard clippings, (the neighbors kid who mows her yard also dumps his mower bag in it), leaves after raking, old plants from the garden, old potting soil if i transplant a plant, egg shells, potato peels, the vacume cleaner bag contents, and kitchen fruit and veg peels and pits. NONE OF THIS STUFF STINKS. Its the same stuff that breaks down in the garden and yard everyday--and your garden and yard don't stink--, except you have it in one concentrated spot. Heat and moisture make it break down quicker, so if i happen to think of it, i turn in once in a blue moon, and if it hasnt rained for a while, i'll water it then turn it. I have 2 of these-one thats ready now, and one that will be for next season. Even if you don't turn and water it, it will break down anyway-so if you ignore it you are fine.