Composting tips

[obregon562]

TF,

So i finally plowed my "normal" garden today...I had let it go to fallow (sp?) and finally cleared it away. My poor little mango tree was getting swallowed in a sea of weeds! Anyway, i had the grand idea of setting up a compost pile. My plot was full of bricks and stuff, so i dug them all up and put them in a square "pit", and put all the weeds/roots/pulverized green material in it. Is this all i need to do to set up the compopsting action? Just time now right? I was thinking of putting a plastic covering over it to put the bacteria in overdrive, but this could also kill them...hmmm...

Thanks for the help!
Frankie

 

[Jefforever]

I've heard a lot of stuff about composting, like ratios of green to brown stuff, mixing the pile periodically, it has to be 3' x 3', etc. Maybe you should look it up on google.

Hope you have good luck with it! I've been trying to get one started too (5 months), but it doesn't seem to be working.

 

[obregon562]

ive been searching google but was hoping that someone would have first hand experience. Thanks for da inpoot.

 

[RL7836]

Part art, part science. The web will have tons of stuff - good idea to peruse some of it.

Basically you need organic material, the 'bugs' (fungi, bacteria, etc) to break it down, moderate to warm temps and enough water (non-chlorinated) to make it not-too-wet nor not-too-dry.....

Enjoy

 

[herenorthere]

It's pretty simple - just pile up everything and nature will do the rest. I don't know how dry your part of the state is and you might need to add water now and then. Don't worry about whether the water is chlorinated - I use dishwater.

I have a nice Smith & Hawken compost enclosure that my wife got for free somewhere, but my previous compost bins here and in Maine were wooden pallets held in place with steel stakes. I also have "informal" compost piles where I pile leaves, weeds and so on.

The major things to be real concerned about are to stir it up so things don't get packed down too tightly and to not add too much nitrogen. Grass clipping are real high N and, if you're adding them, try to mix them in with less hot stuff, like leaves, shredded wood and so on.

Back when we still had cats, we used a newspaper pellet kitty litter and I dumped that in my compost too. It was a highwire balancing act and one year the pile didn't even freeze in the winter because it was so active. But I had to pay close attention to keep it from turning into a backyard poison gas factory. I don't miss it, although my compost production must be down by 50%.

 

[joossa]

I compost Autumn leaf litter every year from late November through mid April. I don't do anything special....

First, I collect all the leaf littler I can in large garbage bins throughout the fall. Then I place them in my garage to help them dry out a bit. After a couple of days I take a shovel and crumple all the littler into small pieces. Then, I just use my main garden's growing patch (which is not hosting anything at that time of the year), dig a very large hole, and dump the smashed littler in there. I cover it up with the soil I dug out and water it every now and again.

I leave it alone for all of winter. Once late February comes along, I periodically mix it until I want to take out and use some soil or use the patch for growing plants.

 

[evergreen]

only all plant material can go in, no dairy or meat or other food, no plastic no styrafoam no nothin' no salted or roasted nut shells eiher.. just plants. though pet hair can go in. grass clippings, fallen leaves, weeds, tree, bush prunings etc. can go in. worms and other decomposers will help break down things faster. in the summer make sure it's a well aired out area.winter things may freeze but will start up again in the spring. sometimes mushrooms might start growing in their, leave them their. its a good idea to 'churn"/mix the compost together so everything blends nicely.

thats all i can think of for now, i'll post more later if i can think of anything else.

 

[bluebird]

I have a composting bin don't really know anything on it, but I just put egg shells, any parts of fruits and veggies that are not edible, grass and leaves also coffee grinds and tea so far it looks nice.

sadly last year my dad put dirt in it so we get weeds tomato plants and pumpkins which the tomatoes and pumpkins taste greate so I need to make another compost bin now.