Practical Composting. - Garden Plants and Gardening Forum

Durgan · 06-20-2008, 04:23 PM

20 June 2008 Practical Composting. 20 June 2008 Practical Composting.

All garden waste is chopped into small pieces and placed in the composting bin.

A bin must be readily accessible, for placing waste into, and also for ease of removing, plus convenient for mixing. A block and a machete will suffice for chopping if the quantity doesn't warrant the expense of a chipper/shredder. The bin is rototilled for mixing purposes periodically. All vegetation is added until the Fall season, and left to brew until Spring, then put onto the garden beds. It takes a lot of vegetation to make any reasonable quantity of compost.

Most urban compost initiatives are about selling silly containers, rather than a practical aim. From my 0.4 acre of garden the compost quantity is about four cubic yards, for all practical purposes almost nothing.

smgardener · 07-11-2008, 07:44 AM

Durgan, what's the dog's name?

Durgan · 07-13-2008, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smgardener

Durgan, what's the dog's name?

Neena. is the Pomeranian's name.

andrew · 09-08-2008, 04:19 PM

I've just started composting at home. Over 2 months I've bought 2 bins (each 1cubic meter), the second one came after the first filled in about 5 weeks.

Only after 2 months with a lot of various materials added has it started to decompose nicely. It gets all of the household scraps (except for dairy and meat), newspaper, cardboard, egg cartons, lint from the washer and dryer, the cat's hairballs that are left all over the house, leaf litter, grass clippings, and a little soil and manure.

Turning the compost 3 times a week, getting plenty of air into the mix, and giving it adequate water has lead to proper "cooking". Another 6-8 weeks and a useful humus should be the result.

With a yard less than 50 sq.meters, the compost will spread nicely to enrich the soil, and help with water loss in the drought here.

I've had 2 issues-
1. Mosquitoes love the bins, each time I open the lid they attack me. Solution- cover the top of the organic mater with hessian cloth or an old piece of carpet.

2. Ants invaded both bins last week, there must have been millions of them. Solution- It was a result of the compost being too dry, and the warm, nutrient rich environment was perfect for them to start a colony. So a good watering of the compost drove them out and restarted the hot cooking of the compost.

iDJustin · 11-21-2008, 04:38 PM

I've been putting a lot of eggshells in my compost... will this hurt anything?

lspichkin · 11-24-2008, 03:12 PM

I think eggshells are fair game - they shouldn't hurt anything at all...

lucy o · 12-09-2008, 02:35 PM

I've been told to add coffee grounds to my compost. How much is too much? Is there such a thing as too much? I drink coffee every day and there are a lot of coffee grounds that I could be putting in there. But my compost pile isn't that big and I don't want to tip the happy balance.

06-20-2008, 04:23 PM	#1
Durgan Green Thumb Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 85 Blog Entries: 1	Practical Composting. 20 June 2008 Practical Composting. 20 June 2008 Practical Composting. All garden waste is chopped into small pieces and placed in the composting bin. A bin must be readily accessible, for placing waste into, and also for ease of removing, plus convenient for mixing. A block and a machete will suffice for chopping if the quantity doesn't warrant the expense of a chipper/shredder. The bin is rototilled for mixing purposes periodically. All vegetation is added until the Fall season, and left to brew until Spring, then put onto the garden beds. It takes a lot of vegetation to make any reasonable quantity of compost. Most urban compost initiatives are about selling silly containers, rather than a practical aim. From my 0.4 acre of garden the compost quantity is about four cubic yards, for all practical purposes almost nothing. __________________ Durgan Zone 5B http://durgan.org/2011/ Garden Journal

11-21-2008, 04:38 PM	#5
iDJustin Green Gardener Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2	I've been putting a lot of eggshells in my compost... will this hurt anything? __________________ --Justin I work for the most fun summer camp!

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07-11-2008, 07:44 AM	#2
smgardener Grounds Keeper Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 161 Blog Entries: 9 Images: 10	Durgan, what's the dog's name?

09-08-2008, 04:19 PM	#4
andrew Green Gardener Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Melbourne, VIC Posts: 1	I've just started composting at home. Over 2 months I've bought 2 bins (each 1cubic meter), the second one came after the first filled in about 5 weeks. Only after 2 months with a lot of various materials added has it started to decompose nicely. It gets all of the household scraps (except for dairy and meat), newspaper, cardboard, egg cartons, lint from the washer and dryer, the cat's hairballs that are left all over the house, leaf litter, grass clippings, and a little soil and manure. Turning the compost 3 times a week, getting plenty of air into the mix, and giving it adequate water has lead to proper "cooking". Another 6-8 weeks and a useful humus should be the result. With a yard less than 50 sq.meters, the compost will spread nicely to enrich the soil, and help with water loss in the drought here. I've had 2 issues- 1. Mosquitoes love the bins, each time I open the lid they attack me. Solution- cover the top of the organic mater with hessian cloth or an old piece of carpet. 2. Ants invaded both bins last week, there must have been millions of them. Solution- It was a result of the compost being too dry, and the warm, nutrient rich environment was perfect for them to start a colony. So a good watering of the compost drove them out and restarted the hot cooking of the compost.

11-24-2008, 03:12 PM	#6
lspichkin Administrator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: West Hollywood, CA Posts: 221 Images: 88	I think eggshells are fair game - they shouldn't hurt anything at all...

12-09-2008, 02:35 PM	#7
lucy o Green Gardener Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 10	I've been told to add coffee grounds to my compost. How much is too much? Is there such a thing as too much? I drink coffee every day and there are a lot of coffee grounds that I could be putting in there. But my compost pile isn't that big and I don't want to tip the happy balance.