Direct composting??

[Contrariety]

I have a garden box that was supposed to be full of cukes that was a total failure because I didn't realize it wasn't properly watered until it was too late. I keep putting off getting something else in the box and as I becoming increasingly pregnant, I see the likelyhood of getting anything in there diminishing completely. Right now, it's way too hot to start anything and in a month, I'll be ready to pop and not interested in starting new plants...

soooooo... I'm wondering if it's an idiotic idea to put my veggie scraps directly into this bed. My actual compost bin is a nightmare, completely overgrown with weeds and in desperate need of attention, which it will not get until next spring, probably because I'm too hot and too fat to toss that sucker (I'm a really whiny person this pregnancy...).

So I won't be planting anything in this bed until next spring. The soil is terrible (I didn't fill the raised beds, so I didn't get to pick the soil, my maintenance company did.).

Am I nuts to directly compost stuff in this bed?

[karlugato]

I actually think it's a great idea! Any maybe in a year or two when you want to grow stuff in it again, it will be a lush, loamy, plant vacation! I really don't see a downside.

[Owen'nZoe]

Not nuts at all! My grandma always composted by burying her scraps in holes she scattered throughout the garden. I know 'they' say it isn't a good way to compost, but gosh, her garden was always lush and productive! Another way to do it is to put a thick layer of mulch over the entire bed, and tuck your scraps under the mulch (so it is sitting right on top of the soil). I do this in established beds where I don't really want to dig, and it works great.

[cymbeline]

A friend did this: she made tubes with chicken wire, dumped the compost inside and then planted tomato vines all around it. I think the idea was that it was supposed to directly provide the benefits of compost to the tomatoes.

Unfortunately, the pile attracted a ton of pests which promptly destroyed her tomatoes and were a real b*tch to get out of the soil the next year since they left lots of larvae behind. :

[Contrariety]

I think I'm going to go for it! DS will be so confused about burying food in the dirt!

[Brisen]

I've heard about doing this, but I don't recall where, and the instructions were for doing it in a yard/fallow section of garden. Basically, it said to dig a trench, deep enough to cover the scraps well and not attract unwanted critters, and leave the dirt up beside the trench. Starting at one end, dump your scraps in and cover; work your way to the other end of the trench, and dig a new one when that one is filled up.

I've been meaning to ask a similar question. We don't have a compost going, but I do have a spot where I pile green waste, like from pulling grass/clover around the garden, or deadheading flowers, or green leaves that fall during the summer, etc. I'm thinking that instead of trying to plant a green manure crop and turn it in, I'll just save all of that stuff and dig it in to the garden in the fall. Of course, now I'm trying to remember if I put anything in there that had gone to seed.

[kakies]

subbing

[kakies]

Would this attract rodents to your yard?

[Owen'nZoe]

K- It shouldn't if you follow the standard recommendations not to compost meat, dairy, or oils. In fact, it seems to me that if you're burying the scraps, the chance of attracting rodents would be lower, than with a pile on the ground (which could be a great place for a rodent to bury).

[canadiyank]

Yep, it should be fine. I have four composts going, so I prefer that, but I do sometimes dig it right into the hole. In your situation I wouldn't hesitate.