compost 101 - Page 5

[ccasanova]

Hopefully someone will see this since it is a sticky! I'm new to composting but have my composter ready for filling. I got it at Costco and it's a stand up bin type with a lid on top and a door on each side for lifting to get the ready stuff out. I have a few piece of grass in there from laying sod, and a couple twigs. Pretty puny size pile right now, Before I started putting in veggie scraps do I need to put some dirt in or anything? Or should i buy some hay/straw? Is hay/straw the same thing? We are in a new community, so there aren't any leaves laying around and so far we are the only home that has put in grass! So greens and browns are at a minimum. I was thinking that I could buy a bag of soil and use that to cover my scraps until we start to get some more leaves, twigs. But I can probably find some hay to buy too. TIA!

[GruppieGirl]

Originally Posted by ccasanova

l Before I started putting in veggie scraps do I need to put some dirt in or anything? Or should i buy some hay/straw? Is hay/straw the same thing? TIA!

Just toss it all in!

You could cover your scraps with some newspaper and the hay. Have fun!

[Changed]

So, am I correct to asume that there should be no bugs or rats with a tumbler?

[jtbuko]

Increasing browns, composting in small space.

We live in a townhome on .05 acre and create lots of greens, but very few browns. We have a homemade bin we got on freecycle. It is basically a large covered trash bin with holes drilled throughout.and a large opening on the bottom. We have just been putting kitchen scraps and grass clippings in for a few weeks, but I am trying to remedy that ASAP before the weather warms up and we start spending more time outside. Also, I want to eliminate the stink before the neighbors complain.

I am primarily composting to reduce our family's waste, but we do garden a little so I want to be able to use the compost in our mostly edible garden. It will not be entirely organic since we don't eat entirely organic (a great ideal, but too pricey/ hard to find to be exclusive about in our current circumstances), but I do want anything we grow using the compost to be at least as safe as the non-organics we buy at the store.

I will try to get my hands on some mulch or leaves, but in the meantime am looking to increase our browns using waste our family already creates:
cardboard (especially toilet paper & paper towel tubes)
shredded paper (should I worry about the bleach and ink? how much?)
bedding & poop from our rat cage (brand is carefresh - it is paper pulp based. our rats are not fed meat)
droppings from our arborvitae (sp?) - nothing really grows beneath it plus we have head to trim a few dead parts off, so I am hesitant to use it
newspaper

Any feedback on inclusion or my proposed browns, or other ideas for alternative browns for folks who want to compost primarily to reduce home waste?

Thanks & happy composting to all!

[Metta&Karuna]

Question: I know that you are not supposed to put meat, dairy, or oils/fats into the compost. I am confused, though. What about buttered toast? Macaroni and cheese? Things like that, where there is a lot of other stuff in addition to the no-no?

THANKS!

[AnnieMarie]

Hi,
We personally feed all that type of stuff to either the chickens or the dogs, and then get compost from the chicken manure. I would avoid anything that will attract rats and mice (at least we do as we live on a farm where you get rats as big as poodles )

[ccasanova]

I am new to composting but am very careful not to add anything that has any of the above mentioned ingredients in it. That means no buttered toast even! Better safe then sorry IMO. So not even the smallest bone, piece of meat scap, buttered pasta, etc. Only fruits and veggies that don't have any animal products on them like yougurt on fruit, and plain toast.

[Mary-Beth]

I never allow any meat to go in...even tiny scraps. We don't use a lot of butter or dairy but there is some used here and so trace amounts might end up in the compost- pasta with a little butter on it for example. but I wouldn't dumps in soup with a heavy cream or anything like that.
Trace amounts of oil go in too...like pasta with olive oil on it. But not significant amounts.

[mosesface]

hi! i'm new to composting, but i inherited a slow cooking heap when we bought our new house. it's basically just a pile at the back of the yard made up of leaves and kitchen scraps.

last week i added grass clippings and shredded news paper and turned in the weeds (i think they were watermelon plants, actually) that were growing on it and aerated a bit with my cultivator. today i turned it top to bottom.

it's now sitting there in a lovely heap. it's about 2 feet high and wide and about 3 feet long. the material is still pretty rough. if i pulled from the bottom and sifted, i might have a couple gallons of finished compost.

i want to have a big strong batch ready for fall planting (august/september).

so here are my questions:

1. since this pile is getting close to a good size, should i keep adding greens and browns until it is 3x3 and then start a NEW pile?

3. do i need to stock pile my ingredients (kitchen scraps, grass, etc.) and only add when i turn or can i just dump them on top as they come?

4. when i start my new pile, do i need to stock pile first or can everything get mixed in together?

5. other than regular turning (my new strength training exercise), what else can i do to get the pile to go faster?

[haleyelianasmom]

I'm new to composting and this sticky is very informative!

I have a couple questions, though. Is a pallet-constructed compost bin without a lid okay if we're adding kitchen waste to it? Won't animals get at it? Also, we have a screened in porch in the back (cement floor). Would it be a good idea to keep compost in there so no animals get to it and it is safe from the rain? Or should I keep it further from the house on the dirt?

One last question. I got a air-tight stainless steel canister that I'm using as our kitchen waste container. Is that okay? I don't need to keep it aerated while inside, do I?

Thanks!

[rose angel]

Originally Posted by ccasanova

? Or should i buy some hay/straw? Is hay/straw the same thing? We are in a new community, so there aren't any leaves laying around and so far we are the only home that has put in grass! So greens and browns are at a minimum. I was thinking that I could buy a bag of soil and use that to cover my scraps until we start to get some more leaves, twigs. But I can probably find some hay to buy too. TIA!

Hay and straw are not the same thing. Straw is just hollow stems. Hay can be made of the enire alfalfa plant, or whole stalks of grain. You want straw, as the hollowness aerates the pile a bit, and you don't want extra seeds in there from hay.

[Chanley]

hay may also have seeds. Straw does not. Straw is what is left after grain harvesting, hay is for feeding livestock only. So lots of weeds etc in hay fields.

Sometimes my straw has seed heads left on it. They germinate and I currently have wheatgrass growing in the garden. I just pull it out and lay it down. Homegrown mulch.

I think you are overthinking the compost pile thing. I have a book called "Let It Rot" and they get into the specifics of decay and well...I do not overthink the oils, fats thing. We have some pretty big tom cats and I have never seen a rat in the pile. But I also throw a good amount of brown matter on my pile and it NEVER gets turned. I plan on breaking into my pile this fall when it cools off and seeing what is happening. I have a pallet constructed composter with no lid. So far so good, it has never smelled and I have never met any critters in it. BUT I am not aiming for quick turn around on the compost bin. This is mostly to keep organic waste OUT of landfills. So we chuck it in. I will be constructing a new one when I start thinking of pulling old stuff out.

My dogs eat meat scraps. The ducks will eat grain scraps like rice and boiled pasta. As well as leafy green scraps, they LOVE leftover salad.

I use my duck pen compost to fertilize my garden. The compost bin stuff is just extra lovliness and a holding place for all of my food garbage to break down.

[Daniel's Kitty]

Would anyone here put oatmeal baby cereal in? I just found a new expired box of Gerber oatmeal .

[Mary-Beth]

Yes, oatmeal is fine.

Happy composting!

[Shantimama]

We have two bins on the go, one at either end of the backyard. They are buried in several feet of snow for a good portion of the year, so this way we have one with finished compost when we need it and another that is filling up. We don't add to it during the winter months.

I have to admit that I love using the comost in my garden. I dug some around my tomato and pepper plants yesterday and I saw some eggshell remnants adn wondered if thiose were leftover from Christmas cookies or a birthday cake, then I recognized an almost fully compoted avacado pit and wondered with yummy dish of guacamole that was from.

[candipooh]

I read all 5 pages of this sticky and started to get more excited about my pile. I don't pay it much attention, I just toss kitchen scraps (fruit, veggie and coffee grounds) and cover scraps with grass and or dry leaves.

So....I went out and turned it and added more scraps and some dry grass clippings. And there is bugs! Those dark huge roaches. One in the process of laying an egg .

What happened? Is the pile ruined? If I can fix it how do I go about it? I wonder if it is because the pile was leaning on a brick wall? (I moved it away from the wall) Was it because it was a 'dry' pile? (did not keep it wet)

[FarmerCathy]

Great info! Now I'm ready to make compost bins in the suburbs.

[bunny's mama]

Originally Posted by candipooh

I read all 5 pages of this sticky and started to get more excited about my pile. I don't pay it much attention, I just toss kitchen scraps (fruit, veggie and coffee grounds) and cover scraps with grass and or dry leaves.

So....I went out and turned it and added more scraps and some dry grass clippings. And there is bugs! Those dark huge roaches. One in the process of laying an egg .

What happened? Is the pile ruined? If I can fix it how do I go about it? I wonder if it is because the pile was leaning on a brick wall? (I moved it away from the wall) Was it because it was a 'dry' pile? (did not keep it wet)

i have similar problems. i just started our pile (its in a bin actually) when we moved her about 3 weeks ago. finally had the chance to turn it for the first time today (i know...duh) and a little MOUSE actually scurried out of the bottom. and there were beetles too. yikes. the beetles are maybe okay, but i know mice are wrong wrong wrong. there's no meat or dairy in there at all, but you know mice, he could have been after just the veggie scraps.

i think i had it too dry, and also i need to turn it more often (like once or twice a week). argh.

anyone else have mice?

[root*children]

We have mice. I have put poison down their holes, as well as got some with the shovel. If we weren't moving in a couple months, I would get the hardware cloth from Home Depot and put it around teh bottom. You're supposed to have it going up the walls a little, but also buried about 6" down - I think they won't dig too far down, and they can't get through the cloth (it's not actually cloth - more like wire). Anyhow, a really effective remedy, which we also CAN'T do is get cats! We have dogs that like to eat cats, so that wouldn't work.

Oh, a couple other things we did - we removed all the bushes that were near it - it was shady with lots of mouse hiding places. If the piles are completely out in the open, it's not *so* appealing to mice. We also planted mint around the edges - that's supposed to be a deterrent.

[Nemmer]

Oh wow, I'm glad I'm not the only one... I know my pile was too dry last year, and I thought that's why I had mice.