Compost pile

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Aug 25 2007, 10:57 AM) [snapback]501957[/snapback]</div>

You can keep adding to your compost bin in the winter. The composting process will be slower but you'll be surprised how the right bin/pile will still heat up especially in the middle. Having your bin in black and in a sunny location would help. Also helpful in breaking your waste down faster is to feed it in small pieces - i.e. cut larger pieces up (some people even blend it in their blender). None of this is necessary but would help to speed up the process.
As far as your worms go they don't like the light and therefore won't come out of the bin. You don't need a basement for a wormbin as they can be located under your kitchen sink (this is not for everyone )

The most I ever paid for a composter bin is $25 subsidized (even got a free one from the local municipality) and these were black recycled plastic about 3'x3'x4' H with a lid. You can also make your own from wood or concrete blocks.

Best of luck
Gabe


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Aug 25 2007, 10:57 AM) [snapback]501957[/snapback]</div>

I would say that is a very nice "deluxe" model but wondering if you can get one cheaper. What's nice about it:
1. black will help heating it up
2. tumbler helps to speed up the composting process
3. easy to empty the finished product
4. you get tea as an additional benefit
5. it's a nice size

Go for it if you can afford it
Gabe

 

Well, if it's a hole rather than a heap, you don't need to worry so much about roots. As long as you don't hack through too many of them to dig the hole, the plants will be happier with a ready source of nutrition. Part of the function of a compost is to deal with organic 'waste' responsibly, and part of it is to produce useful soil amendments. The hole method can do both, depending on where it is. Being 'earth-sheltered' removes many of the worries about temperature and moisture extremes. I wouldn't use a tarp all year round, but a covering of some sort in the winter will help keep the heat in and the worst of the rain out. A random summer rain won't do any harm, but be sure the site has good drainage. Three by three by...three feet deep? How big is your rabbit?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Aug 25 2007, 09:57 AM) [snapback]501957[/snapback]</div>

Cost is pricely the reason why I went with the one I did. I figure during the winter with as much sun exposure as this black bin gets, unless it gets frigid composting shouldn't slow down as much. I have a basement, but it gets just as cold down there sometimes and no sun. This will be my first winter with it, so I'll have to wait and see how it turns out. <_<

I considered the bin you are looking at. Again, I went with mine because it was more of a mid-grade cost.

Good luck with the hole! My property isn't big enough to consider doing that. Too close to the neighbors.

Just a note on other things you can put into your pile - dryer lint, animal/human hair, pasta (no butter/sauce), and even paper towels that hadn't been used with harsh cleaners or in contact with other no-no's.

Happy composting!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(4futrgens @ Aug 25 2007, 05:47 PM) [snapback]502140[/snapback]</div>

We put those biodegradable packing peanuts in too. They don't last very long in their original form.

 

i just throw mine in a pile on the ground. i don't see the need to dig a hole, purchase bins, or put tarps, etc., on it. i just pile it up and let it do its thing. mine is now about 50' long, 5' wide, and 3-4' tall. all the fall leaves, grass clippings, clippings from the garden, and food scraps go in there. periodically i till it up and mix the compost back into the garden. purchasing tarps, bins, etc just creates more plastic in the environment - those bins wil eventually become trash and end up in the dumpster - so why bother with all that? and if i want to go fishin', i have thousands of worms in the compost pile...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pewd @ Aug 26 2007, 12:41 AM) [snapback]502240[/snapback]</div>

- I got the first bin more than 25 yrs ago and it is still in perfect condition

The possible issue with your method and the "hole" method is critters (mice; rats; skunks; racoons; bears....), but if it works for you great.

 

Nothing new in this, my mum has been doing it for years.
My dog is my fast composter, I give him all my kitchen scraps, he eats them them excretes processed compost on the lawn.

 

You're very welcome, SSimon. All is not lost. You can still dig a smaller hole within the perimeter of the composter, and nobody has to know.

Then you can 'dig away' at your dh's attitude about 'trash dumps'. There's really no such thing as trash, just stuff we're finished with.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Aug 26 2007, 09:48 AM) [snapback]502318[/snapback]</div>

If you really have your heart set on the digging method then you can do it a lot more gradually on a smaller scale by using what gardeners call "double digging"

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Aug 26 2007, 07:46 AM) [snapback]502300[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for sharing that - <_< ... and if there is too much kitchen waste for one dog then just buy more dogs?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius 07 @ Aug 27 2007, 06:47 PM) [snapback]502649[/snapback]</div>

I had 2 but age is affecting the productivity of the one remaining dog. I told her to get her act together or I might need to replace her. I recomend Bull Terrier Whippet cross for kitchen waste disposal.

Hey, use a post hole borer to dig a compost hole, then shovel some soil from the spoils from digging the hole on top of each lot of waste. There won't be any smell. When the hole is near full sink another hole. 12 months after each hole is full plant a small tree or shrub on it. Mark each hole when full so you can locate it. Build up the soil over it a little as it will settle down. Good luck with your olde man.

 

I'm a cheapo composter. At my previous house which was a small yard right next to the neighbors, I used old chicken wire wrapped into circles (3 of them in various hidden corners), about the size of a barrel cut in half. Fill one up and just let it be for a year. Unwrap the chicken wire and you have a pile of compost to mix into the garden. More than one is preferable for rotation sake. You can plant some small evergreen bushes around it and it will blend right in. Insect are only a problem if you throw food scraps on top. You should dig a hole in your pile to place foodstuffs. Leaf/grass clippings (preferable a mixture thereof) blend it all togethor nicely.

When I got my new house with the large fenced back yard, I took scrap wood and built a big rectangel with old painted trim boards as sides with small spacing for air flow. It has 2 sections, seperated by chicken wire. On the front side, the boards are cut to a uniform length and slide in and out of place. This is very helpful when you go to empty out the pile. Just shovel it right out! Last years yard waste was ready for the garden by this spring, so I haven't even needed to use the 2nd box yet. I'm not a big believer in the black plastic thingies, though they do a better/faster job. Why spend the money? Why not spend that money on attractive shrubs to hide a homemade pile?

 

Been composting for years. I strongly recommend it. It reduces out going trash and you get free fertilizer! I've never turned my compost. It just shrinks and shrinks. On top of the garden and kitchen wastes, I throw away my shredded junk mail(minus the plastic windows).

My main advice is when dumping kitchen wastes, dig a hole in the middle of the compost for the kitchen wastes and cover it with leaves or grass or shredded paper. Otherwise you'll attract fruit flies. Good luck.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Aug 27 2007, 10:42 AM) [snapback]502698[/snapback]</div>

LOL

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Aug 27 2007, 10:42 AM) [snapback]502698[/snapback]</div>

Same idea as the double digging method with the double digging typically working with small trenches instead of the post hole size. Which one you choose may be a factor of the amount and rate of waste generated.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Aug 25 2007, 10:21 AM) [snapback]501962[/snapback]</div>

This is the best course of action. About 20 years ago we had a serious strike in this area and there was no municipal collection of any rubbish for months. At the time I dug a hole about three or four feet deep and we tipped all our waste except glass into this. Five or six years later I was digging in that part again and I was astonished to find almost no trace of the large quantity of rubbish which had been dumped there. The only evidence was a few crumbling and very corroded food cans.

The municipal collection of wastes is a fairly modern innovation in most places although cities had some sort of collection service in the 19th century. But for most places before the 1920s, when bottles and cans started to be used in a big way for retail food sales, everybody got rid of rubbish in their own way.

 

Had a quick question for those experienced composters.
Is there any particular reason why I wouldn't want to put dried out weeds into my compost pile? I just weeded my garden, and boy there is a lot. I'm tempting to throw it all in there.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(4futrgens @ 2007 Aug 28 12:21 PM) [snapback]503349[/snapback]</div>

Unless the temperature in your compost is unusually high, the seeds will still be viable. If you're going to use the compost on your garden later, the weeds will come right back. I tend to keep a separate pile for the nasty weeds, which eventually gets taken to the local recycling centre.