Best Composting Tips

[JalapenosinDelco]

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We’ve always had compost going, but as our garden is growing we needed more! And having 6 people in our house, we’re certainly creating enough usable scraps.
I had a lot of help from my step-son who was the only one of the kids into this.
We collected free wooden pallets from a store nearby, I asked the manager first.
Cleaned out a large mound of decomposing grass as that’s where my husband dumps the lawn clippings.
Then we inserted the pieces, held together with zip ties.

We completed it with a front “gate” and a pallet on top, and some chicken wire fencing on the inside to help prevent critters from getting in.
So there to you have it. An almost free compost pile, with almost free labor to boot!
Looking here for composting ideas, what works, what manure you’re using if any, how to keep costs down, how to keep critters out...
Thanks for reading!

 

[dickiebird]

I use horse and chicken droppings along with their bedding. Heap it up on a pile and let the chickens turn it at their own pace.
I don't worry about keeping anything out as we don't put food scraps in the mix.
In the spring I use the front loader on my tractor to scoop it up and spread it on the garden, then till it in.
In the fall I give it a coating of compost but I let it sit there over the winter acting like a compost tea, letting all those great nutrients steep down into the soil.

THANX RICH

 

[digitS']

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

 

[JalapenosinDelco]

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

You’re right about the laundry. Our shoes were disgusting. His pants and shirt too. Now we all have muck boots!!
Yeah, all I’ve ever heard about composting is no meat, no dairy, but everything else. We certainly have a lot this year. I can’t wait to use it in the veggie garden in springtime!

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

I built something similar in summer of 2018. I did not, however, keep in mind that in winter those gates aren't opening. Also, I built roof panels for each section out of 2x4s and topped with corrugated plastic. However, I did not built a lock to keep them secure and a wind storm came around and showed me the errors of my ways.



I fill one for about 4 months before moving to the next, so a good amount of time goes by for them to cook

 

[JalapenosinDelco]

I built something similar in summer of 2018. I did not, however, keep in mind that in winter those gates aren't opening. Also, I built roof panels for each section out of 2x4s and topped with corrugated plastic. However, I did not built a lock to keep them secure and a wind storm came around and showed me the errors of my ways.

View attachment 34236

I fill one for about 4 months before moving to the next, so a good amount of time goes by for them to cook

Very nice. The 3 bin system makes the most sense. I just don’t have the space

 

[Just-Moxie]

I loved doing a good compost heap! Started in 1990, when my 3 kids were still.....kids. I used it as a daily ongoing science project, as well as critter identification. Dependent on where I lived, as to what the donated contents were.

 

[so lucky]

I made the mistake years ago, of placing my compost pile near some vines that really went root wild in the nice compost. Now I can't turn it without getting in there with an axe to chop roots.

 

[Just-Moxie]

Right now, all I have is coffee grounds for compost. Dad tells me he doesn't like fresh veggies...so, no salad trimmings. The egg shells stand out too obviously for now. So I stopped putting them out. Even crushed, they still look like eggshells. I can't even get out to the garden yet to evaluate what is growing in it.

 

[flowerbug]

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.