Best Composting Tips

[ducks4you]

I compost squirrels mainly.

W...HAT?!?!?

 

[Dirtmechanic]

W...HAT?!?!?

Had to tell my wife to quit scaring them off the bird feeders. It makes it harder for me later. She is in that "I can scare them off" phase. Soon the deep resentment will set in and I can make my move. She wants to use a live trap, but our fish and game people disagree, and request put them down. I am saving that tidbit for when she moves to the "Trap them for me" phase so I can skip right to the pellet gun phase.

 

[randrews]

I just dont understand the three bin process. can someone explain it is very simple terms.
thank you ahead of time.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

I just dont understand the three bin process. can someone explain it is very simple terms.
thank you ahead of time.

Same as flipping a pile but it makes a more complete and faster process involving oxygen. You always have some coming out. The bacteria come as conditions are ripe and the water and oxygen given during the toss really speed things along and the walls help increase the working area. The only people I know that use bins have tractors to flip with. Its really hard to flip a big pile with a pitchfork. I just dig out the center of a single pile and re-pile it manually. The drums that rotate seem like a good idea after pitching a pile over.

 

[ducks4you]

I hope that this pulls up, but this article tells you how and why, regarding turning your compost piles.

Turning Your Compost Heap - How To Aerate A Compost Pile

Compost is one of the greatest assets in the garden. To make the most of it in the shortest amount of time, turning the pile regularly is necessary. Keep reading this article for more info.

www.gardeningknowhow.com

Many years ago I had read/saved (on another computer) an article that suggesting making 4 piles of compost, with a space for a 5th, which you left empty. The piles can be small, and you rotate them. This might be easier for you.
I wouldn't worry too much about killing off microbes. You can always add to your pile later, if you need to, with some animal manure and replenish those microbes.
I have LOTS of piles of used stall bedding. I NEVER turn my piles. When I till up a pile that I dumped 7-9 months previous I get that sweet smell of useful compost, so sweet that DH commented on it one time when he was standing close as I tilled it up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I just dont understand the three bin process. can someone explain it is very simple terms.
thank you ahead of time.

I only use two but then I hardly ever turn mine. If I had a third bin I'd probably turn it more often.

A third bin makes turning easier. One bin is full of working composting materials. One bin is empty. You move the stuff from the working bin to the empty bin when you turn it. So back and forth, one to the other until that batch of compost is done. That takes care of two bins.

The third bin is used to collect the stuff for your next batch. Things like grass clippings, animal manure (especially small animals like chickens), or kitchen and garden wastes. That way you are not adding fresh stuff to the working pile.

This is the way I'd use a third bin. Others may have a different approach. You will find that we make compost all kinds of different ways.

 

[Carol Dee]

DH put two sets like this together this spring. One for our garden and one for a friend that has a you pick flower farm. Each cube is 4X4X4 the slats on the front can be lifted out so you can shovel out easier!

 

[Phaedra]

road kill is good fertilizer if you have the stomach for picking it up and burying it. i don't actively seek it out here, but if it happens on the road near our property i do go out and pick it up and bury it in a garden as i don't want to smell it all summer (or until the crows and other scavengers get it taken care of).

 

[john]

Almost free!? Looks like somebody has laundry to do.

It's wonderful that he was willing to help. I'm not sure how much help I was at his age. Let me phrase that: how much willing help. I came to really dislike the hoe. Try to think of ways to allow him to have ownership. You have already done that and can point out the difference "his" compost is making in the growing garden as the year goes on. He did it and those plants are benefiting because he did .

I have composting kitchen scraps, although no meat and nearly nothing cooked. Most of what is in the compost might be considered kitchen waste since much of it is vegetable debris. I've never noticed any racoon interest but mice are around. The only thing that I have identified as mouse-eaten has been carrots.

Using soil in the compost helps in a number of ways.

Steve

small amounts of meat won't matter to a big enough compost pile, but they may attract animals to root about. since i compost all the kitchen scraps indoors in the worm farm it doesn't matter and the various soil critters do their explorations and transformations through time to small bones. the larger bones eventually end up in some trench in a garden where they can complete their transformation back to the earth. i don't put fats/dairy in the worm buckets. at least not much above small bits that might be on other things by accident. for one because we don't normally have any waste diary of any kind, it just doesn't happen and for two because we rarely have meat either at home. we now mostly go out a few times a month for that and when cooking we only do that once in a while too so there aren't normally scraps from that around either.

Leaves will also work on that pile and layer it with a layer of dirt like was said above.

 

[ducks4you]

Had to resuppy this weekend with MEDIUM pine shavings. It has small shavings in it and THEY don't compost as quickly.