You’re gonna compost THAT?
Posted on June 25th, 2008 – 8:27 AMBy Connie Nelson
I’m no compost zealot. In fact, I’ve been a lazy composter for years. I joke that until my husband made me a compost tumbler, that’s how long it took my compost to get done: years.
I’ve never worried about having the correct ratio of “browns” and “greens.” I forget to add water when it gets dry. And I turn the pile whenever I think of it. Still, I get nice compost. It just takes awhile.
But I am careful about what I put IN my composter. I don’t throw in weeds. (Experts say most home composters don’t get hot enough to kill them dead.) I don’t put in anything animal (bones, eggshells, etc.). And while I do toss in a few paper products like tea bags (even the kind with the little string), I don’t compost used paper towels. (Yuck! Do you know where that paper towel has been?)
My former neighbors were a little less, ah, picky about what they put in their composter. Their worst offense? A dead bunny rabbit. (Imagine the smell. In mid-August.)
What do you — and don’t you — compost and why?
23 Responses to "You’re gonna compost THAT?"
I am a relatively new composter. For years we would pile in grass clippings and leaves and just wait. We barely ever turned the pile and never added any kitchen scraps. There was, after about 10 years, some good stuff way at the bottom.
Now I am wanting to get the compost going again and have started wetting it and turning it. I am saving coffee grounds and some select ktichen garbage (chooped up asparagus ends, outside cabbage leaves etc. I am chopping up this stuff to get it going sooner.
I’m hoping to have a nice bunch of compost to put on my beds in the fall, so any advice would be welcome. I have a bin with a lid but no bottom.
Marguerite,
Sounds like you’re doing fine. (Most compost bins don’t have bottoms.) Keep watering when the pile is dry and turning when you can. You should have compost by the end of the season!
We compost most food scraps including egg shells but not meat ( the dogs get that). Sometimes we give the chickens our left overs, depending if it is worth the trip to the coop. Between the animals, composting and recycling, we have little waste for the garbage man.
I have two compost bins that don’t get dumped that often. I am lucky that I have boys that like to play with tractors and move manure piles around.
I have plenty of compost materials around my place so I am not picky about what I toss in the compost piles.
I try and turn the compost once a week, and toss all the kitchen garbage (sans meat and fish), garden trimmings and chopped leaves into the bin. The compost takes about a year.
The coolest part is when I open the bin on an early spring morning and see a thin plume of smoke rise up as I turn the compost. After being frozen all winter, it’s coming back to life!
Hey CindyLou, do you compost all winter? I usually stop in late fall because my composters are full and because I’m too lazy to run outside in the cold. I know some folks who keep on a’ composter all winter long.
I also compost eggshells–I’ve always read that they are OK.
I have a two-bin system and use the finished bin in the spring, then turn over the full raw bin to the “finishing” bin. I have good intentions of turning it frequently so I have fall compost, but in 20 years of composting have never done it. Ah, gardening always gives you opportunities to grow!
Yeah, Connie, we throw stuff in all winter. When it’s really cold a wee bit of hot water loosens up the lid if it’s frozen on.
When it’s not too cold, I pick away at the icy mass to make room. The bin is about half to a quarter full by the end of fall, so there’s lots of room for the compostables from a two-person household.
For real compost geekiness check out this page:
http://madagascar-vegetation.org/places/kew/compostheap.html
Kew Gardens has the largest compost heap in Europe. Wikipedia says in the world, but who knows. I’ve seen it, it’s huge and very very cool.
I’m CindyLou, and I’m a compost geek.
Wow, CindyLou, that’s a heckuva a compost pile! Is your home compost pile that big?
I’ve got a two-composter system, too, Judybusy. I start stuff in a traditional bin, then move it to the tumbler. It works really fast, which is great. But it makes for work . . .there’s always compost that needs to go on the garden!
When the scare of mail theft came around I decided to put all my junk mail to use and compost it all including old checkbooks, outdated records etc. Since I use my compost maily around my flowers so I don’t mind the occasional plastic window(some are biodegradable now anyway). I also have two bins and compost year round. I also compost my extra straw from the roses and invested in a wood chipper for my clipings. Not much leaves my yard by garbage can.
Pat, you get a Gold Star for composting!
But does the junk mail really decompose? I always end up with those little stickers they put on fruit in my garden. Do you ever end up with, say, a scrap from a credit card offer in your garden?
Can someone tell me how to turn my compost? I bought a tall, black bin from the county. It’s filled to the brim and I have no idea how to turn it. Thanks!
I’ve got two bins, too. My first compost bin is close to the house, and I’ve found that I can avoid unpleasant odors if I don’t add onion, cabbage, or broccoli scraps. Otherwise, nearly all veggie kitchen scraps go in the bin, all year long.
I’ve had good experience with eggshells breaking down. Other non-veg items include tea bags, sawdust, and the occasional newspaper.
I keep a bag (or bags) of fall leaves to add along with the summer green stuff and the winter kitchen scraps. I might turn it over two or three times a year, mostly when transferring from the first bin to the second bin.
As long as they don’t have seedheads or look diseased, I toss most of my weeds and pruning debris into the bin. It takes long to break down, but I toss in bits of sod, too.
Hi Connie–no I have one of the regular old round composters. I just think it’s really cool that Kew Gardens generate enough garden waste to have a pile that huge.
Channel 2 ran the recent BBC series “A Year at Kew” over the winter. If they ever run it again, watch it. It’s astounding, that place.
I got a compost tumbler for my birthday last year and I forget to turn it, too. Since it’s a closed system I added fruit and veggie scraps, egg shells, wood chips and leaves.
Pat can you tell me about your woodchipper. where you boughtit, the cost and how good it does the job. i’ve been trying to find an affordable one that really works. thank you
Heidi–to turn your pile, I would just fork it all out to the ground, then fork it all back in again. If you don’t have a pitchfork, buy one. Using a shovel would make this chore even more tedious!
Heidi & JudyBusy, I am resolved to keep my compost bin no more than 3/4 full, at least until I perfect my “technique”. This means thaT I do not make use of every compostable thing I have.
I also have a bin that I got from my County. Using a pitchfork makes turning that stuff a very satisfying task. I turn it every few days and water it as well. When it rains, I open the lid. I have not found it to get very hot though.
Has anyone ever tried any of that Compost energizers?? They have organic products that contain alfalfa, cocoa, micro-organisms etc.
judybusy–Thanks! Pitchfork or not, it doesn’t sound like a fun job. Yuck.
I do the usual coffee grounds, veggie & fruit waste, etc. I added a lot of ash this year from the wood stove. I also use the grill ash - but I burn lump charcoal, not the suspiciously chemically briquettes. If I have a lot of browns, I’ll add any greens I can get - weeds or anything else. The small branches from trimming shrubberies are proving difficult to break down - up there with eggshells. Avocado pits are surpisingly hard to find - apparently they’re not as tough as they look.
I too have one of the county compost bins and compost all kitchen waste other than meat and dairy (eggshells included). Also compost all paper towels not contaminated with meat as we use only organic cleaners. I also toss in parchment and kraft paper and newspaper as well as recycled office paper from time to time. But like others, it is very tough to turn and I have lovely families of mice who like my bin so I’m always afraid of stabbing them. Bin is pretty full now so may try and pull most of it out and sort it out for good compost and what still needs to stew. But I compost all winter as well, tromping out at least once a week. No food scraps leave our house in the garbage other than meat or dairy. Between the recycling, composting and being much more careful about buying things with little packaging it is amazing how little trash we have now!
Connie,
Sorry it took so long to reply but been busy. If mixed in with food scraps and brown or green material along with some water the paper does decompose pretty much. Some does not and I just mix it in with the garden soil and it does the rest since the material is exposed to more oxygen. Again I use most of mine on flowers. If I use it in the Veggie garden I dig in under deeply so by the time rotation brings it to the surface it is gone. If I do find a bit of plastice I fish it out into the recycling bin.
————
Daisymae,
I found my chipper on ebay. Not sure of the name but got it on discount for about $150. If you do a google search it will narrow bring up good choices.
Pat
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
Need more Greengirls? Follow along on Twitter:
Subscribe to Greengirls
Learn more about RSS
Garden resources
Categories
- Apples, Plums + Tree fruits (18)
- Asparagus (3)
- Beans + Peas (9)
- Bees (12)
- Beets, Carrots + Root veggies (7)
- Berries (10)
- Books + Resources (13)
- Chickens (13)
- Compost (7)
- Container gardening (7)
- Corn (2)
- Critters + vermin (27)
- Cucumbers + Melons (15)
- Farmer's Markets (1)
- Flowers + Grasses (27)
- Garlic (5)
- Greens + Lettuces (10)
- Herbs (6)
- Lawn care (12)
- Mulch (7)
- Mystery plants (9)
- Potatoes (9)
- Preserving (7)
- Rain gardens (2)
- Seed starting (16)
- Soil care (4)
- Squashes + gourds (1)
- Succulents (2)
- Tomatoes, Peppers + Eggplant (38)
- Tools, gloves, rain barrels + more (17)
- Transplanting (1)
- Tree + shrub care (4)
- Uncategorized (164)
- Water gardens (3)
- Weather woes (25)
- Weeds (13)
- Weekend to-dos (11)