Composting

The season is upon us to start on the outdoor projects. Yay!!

Let's talk composting!

Who does it? What method do you use (hands-off, let it work on its own; takes a year to see results OR hands-on, constantly turning and working the pile; will see results within weeks)?

Do you have a pile or a container?

What do you put in your compost pile?

Do you have a leaf shredder - is it worth it?

Re: Composting

Great questions...ok now where's KellyFG to answer them for us

Re: Composting

Yeah really. I totally can't help, I don't have one yet.

But Paul James (Gardening by the Yard on HGTV) has a few bins for different stages of compost. I think they're 2 year old, 1 year old, and new.

Re: Composting

ahhh yes here I am the queen of the $hit pile as DH calls me

Ok right now I have a pile, we are building a very simple compost container out of cinder blocks & chicken wire.

I turn the pile all summer, mine is mostly leaves, grass clippings, chicken manure & bedding from the coop. I don't really add garden or kitchen scraps because I feed them to the chickens & rabbit.
I do add coffee grinds & stuff the chickens can't eat in the summer.
I think a leaf shredder would speed the process, my neighbors have a compost tumbler they say it works well, but its sort of small.

this book is pretty good

Re: Composting

Posted by KellyFG

ahhh yes here I am the queen of the $hit pile as DH calls me

Ok right now I have a pile, we are building a very simple compost container out of cinder blocks & chicken wire.

I turn the pile all summer, mine is mostly leaves, grass clippings, chicken manure & bedding from the coop. I don't really add garden or kitchen scraps because I feed them to the chickens & rabbit.
I do add coffee grinds & stuff the chickens can't eat in the summer.
I think a leaf shredder would speed the process, my neighbors have a compost tumbler they say it works well, but its sort of small.

this book is pretty good
IMAGE

Re: Composting

yup, I've got colorful eggs. The girls are quite happy with the warm weather & longer days, they are laying 6-8 eggs a day. I give away a few dozen a week!

Re: Composting

Re: Composting

for those in co-ops, condos, apts...you can compost in a container using earthworms.

i'll have to find a link to some good info.

i can't wait to have a compost pile in the new place

Re: Composting

Are you living in your new house now?
I'll meet somewhere one of these days if you want. Of course you're welcome to come out to Podunk, but its FAR

Re: Composting

We have two good piles of leaves in each of the far corners of our yard. I've read that shredding them helps speed up the composting.

We're looking into a bin - they come in a variety of sizes - and a small container for inside the house (so we're not running out to the corner every night).

I've also read that hair is very good for the soil - I guess it's a good thing I shed a lot. LOL

I've seen some stuff on the earthworms...not so keen on using them but I might have to read up a little more before I kabosh the idea completely.

Re: Composting

Posted by KellyFG

ahhh yes here I am the queen of the $hit pile as DH calls me

Ok right now I have a pile, we are building a very simple compost container out of cinder blocks & chicken wire.

I turn the pile all summer, mine is mostly leaves, grass clippings, chicken manure & bedding from the coop. I don't really add garden or kitchen scraps because I feed them to the chickens & rabbit.
I do add coffee grinds & stuff the chickens can't eat in the summer.
I think a leaf shredder would speed the process, my neighbors have a compost tumbler they say it works well, but its sort of small.

this book is pretty good
IMAGE

Re: Composting

We have one made of chickenwire (so the air can get through). I'm not super religious about turning it - but in the summer probably once a week when the grass is mowed (we leave our clippings to compost on the lawn, but the mower is near the pile, so it's a good reminder)

we put all plant type kitchen waste - banana, apple, etc peals, egg shells, coffee grinds and tea bags. I keep a bowl in the kitchen and collect all the day's scraps and dump it into the pile.

I am careful with weeds - they do say that the heat from the pile will kill the weed seeds, but I'm just nervous about it all.

I never thought about hair - but if egg shells are good - I would think hair is a similar make up.

Re: Composting

We have a compost bin, on the side yard. It came with the house ;). We also have a small bucket under the sink in the kitchen to collect the daily stuff.

We add kitchen scraps & yard clippings regularly. Al turns it fairly often in the summer after he mows.

We don't have a leaf shredder.

Message edited 3/28/2007 8:44:17 PM.