Composting

[redneck joe]

Food. We many time save up veggie scaps and make stock, and blen with meat scraps, but sometimes i just want to trow the s..t in the trash. Not the meat, that is too precious to waste. Especially four day simmered bone stock, but that is another thread.

I'm looking o amazon and i think I'm leaning to a rotating tub.


does anyone here do this andwhat type do you have?

 

[gm280]

I was actually composting vegetation in my rain gutters until I recently cleaned them out. I actually had new vegetation growing in them. The leaves collected and with rain, they composted to very rich dark...whatever you want to call it. So most anything you can dream up would work well for composting. Just stacking it up in a pile works. And if you want to quicken the process, take a pitch fork and turn it every once in a while. It doesn't take very long either.

 

[redneck joe]

A pile in the yard or gutter composting would lead to a divorce and I'm really not wanting a third one.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would look into keyhole gardens. You toss the compost material into the center and water it from the center

 

[sphelps]

and I'm really not wanting a third one.

....:facepalm: :lol: .... If leaves in the gutter and a pile of compost leads to this I had better clean my gutters ...And the yard ..

 

[mla2ofus]

Every fall I till in 2" of shredded leaves and then till in 2" of manure in the veggie garden. I don't till again until the next fall.
Mike

 

[JASinIL2006]

We have a couple of the spinning barrel types of composters. One is for new scraps, the other is left alone to 'cook' after it is full. Nerver had much luck with a single composter.

 

[southkogs]

We used one like this one for a few years:

It worked well enough. I think JAS's idea of having two would probably have been helpful, but we did okay with just the one.

If I were to get serious about it and go back and do it again, I might be tempted to build a wooden compost bin. I remember my grandparents had one, and it worked really well.

 

[redneck joe]

Every fall I till in 2" of shredded leaves and then till in 2" of manure in the veggie garden. I don't till again until the next fall.
Mike

not enough trees here yet, i'm in a field and oldest (maple) is prob only 12 years old. I do have a line on some horse poop up the road tho'

 

[redneck joe]

this looks promising

 

[redneck joe]

southkogs how was it built?

 

[redneck joe]

hmmmm.... worms.....

 

[southkogs]

southkogs how was it built?

There were three (now that I'm thinking about it) that I remember: First was a three sided wood "bin" at the back of the garden - mostly old 2x4's making the box with about 1/2" in between the side pieces (like slats). I think screen was used to keep things from falling out of the slats. Basically, you'd take the refuse out, toss it on the pile and then pile a little dirt on top of it. I don't recall it being terribly stinky, but this was up in Michigan - not sitting in the TN sun.

Much like this:

The second one that I remember was about the same, but four sided with a slatted top.

The last one - and to your point about worms - was the funniest. And I think was more of grandpa's "fishin' worm farm." It was an old washer tub (with the holes in it, and a detachable lid) buried about 3/4 into the ground. That one was under the trees off to the side of our lake cottage.

 

[gm280]

Southkogs' bin is probably the better idea unless you have a very little amount to compost. The barrel system works, but I could fill one of them so quick it would never be big enough. I have a little over an acre with lot of trees, yielding tons of leaves. However, I mulch all the leaves with the mower every year (early spring time) and leave them stay on the grass. It makes the grass grow like magic and the yard never has any thatch issues either. A lot of the neighbors are finally coming around to stop raking them and mowing them instead. We still have a few that rake and bag and send all that nutrients to the land fill. Such a total waste.

 

[redneck joe]

yeah i don't have leaves and do not rake grass so this will mostly be kitchen veggie scraps.

 

[mla2ofus]

I have a homemade lawn vac and go around to all the neighbors to gather leaves. Haven't heard any complaints yet, LOL!!
Mike

 

[gm280]

I have a homemade lawn vac and go around to all the neighbors to gather leaves. Haven't heard any complaints yet, LOL!!
Mike

Ha mla2ofus, can you post a picture or three of you homemade vacuum setup. I have thought about making one myself for the leaves in the shurbrey beds.

 

[sphelps]

I have a homemade lawn vac and go around to all the neighbors to gather leaves. Haven't heard any complaints yet, LOL!!
Mike

Uhmmmm I need to send you my address !! Come and get em !!!

 

[Tim Frank]

No Title

Depends entirely on what volume of material that you are going to compost and whether you want to use the compost that you produce.
I have a fairly extensive garden on an island property. I run 5 compost bins...the plastic composite type...100 gallon approx, size each. I turn them every couple of weeks, and rotate the contents as needed. One is for long term stuff like shredded pine needles and wood chips...they take about a year to break down.

My tomatoes are always "OK" but never spectacular. Lesson learned last year (from the compost) was that it is almost certainly insufficient fertiliser/nutrients. I had what I call a "volunteer" tomato plant start up in one of my composters. It was a bit like Jack and the Beanstalk, it spread everywhere. It produced over 8 pounds of cherry tomatoes in a short season.
That also is indicative of the "power" of compost.

I get about 200 gallons of finished compost each year.

I have a dial thermometer with a 3 foot stem to monitor internal temps. If the temp drops below 100 degrees i add a homemade accelerator.

That's the outline for me. I attached a pic of my volunteer.

 

[redneck joe]

yeah cherry tomatoes are of the devil...

what is your homemade recipe?




mla2ofus i wouldn't mind seeing that contraption - I do have a couple friends with trees.