Any composting experts out there??

[PeaceNikki]

OK, I want to start (I have a bucket going of kitchen scraps already). But, I need to do it cheap (or free) and I haven't a lot of space. Commercial compost bins are expensive and I haven't the carpentry skills or equipment to build. I've seen sites talk about using plastic bins and wire bins. One site has an image that gave me an idea:



The wire bin reminded me of an used critter cage I have:


Will this work or should I explore plastic bin options? In either case, what tips/tricks/suggestions do you have for a total newbie?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. to me

using plastic negates the very idea of what composting is all about :shrug:

I think recycling the critter cage is an excellent idea ;)

[PeaceNikki]

3. That was my thought, too.

Buying a NEW plastic bin seems wasteful to me, albeit for a good cause.

[underpants]

2. Not sure. My wife is looking into it

so I am really just posting so I can see what the experts around here have to say

That does look like a pretty good idea

[PeaceNikki]

4. I cross-posted in the Gardening Group, too

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=246

I am thinking about putting in GD, too as the traffic there is much greater than the Gardening Group. But I don't want to SPAM the board. Would that be too much?

[yellowdogintexas]

5. used critter cage would work fine.

don't put any non plant stuff in the compost, except maybe eggshells
do put your tea bags and coffee grounds with filters in
water it
flip the cage over every so often.
add any old leaves that are in the yard
add grass clippings if you are able to capture them easily.
I also dump used up potting soil from my indoor plants on my compost.


One gardening book I have suggests you just pick a spot in your yard that you would like to develop into a flower bed. Pile up leaves, grass clippings there. Add your vegetable and fruit scraps from kitchen, coffee, tea etc.
continue to layer. It will build and compost itself. The pile will kill the grass and weeds under it, the composting will just occur naturally and when you are ready to dig the bed, you can just turn the compost into the dirt, then layer it up with additional peat moss, manure, etc as needed.

[Gonzo Gardener]

6. Tips

First, Don't bother with buying a plastic bin or tumbler unless your compost pile will be in view and you need to keep it fairly tidy looking. Unfortunately, your pet cage seems a bit small, but you could start with it!

We have used both a Bio-Stack (high-rise composter) and a wire cage composter with equally good results. If you decide to go with a wire cage you'll need a small roll of galvanized welded wire fencing (available at lowe's, home depot, etc...). You'll want a roll that is approx 36"-48" high. Small rolls usually come in lengths of 50', but you'll only need a 6'-7' long section. Make sure to cut the fencing so that you have the ends of the horizontal wires to bend around the opposite edge of the fencing. Like this...






You will end up with an inexpensive and durable cylindrical cage for your compost. It's not pretty, but it works well. This one is 5 years old and has been bent, mangled, and pushed back into shape several times...



Set it away from any building or foundation directly on the ground. Add layers of grass clippings, leaves, weeds, and kitchen scraps. Keep it moist and turn it every 7 -10 days. All of the scraps you mentioned are great, but keep in mind that unless you are consuming strictly organics that some things, like, pineapple, banana and citrus peels/skins are sprayed heavily with all kinds of nasty chemicals and take longer to breakdown.

The photo below is our messy composting corner. We dug a good sized pit at the end of last years gardening season and threw all of the spent annual garden plants, clumps of weeds, grass clippings, partialy composted material from the cage and high-rise composters, and fall leaves into the pit and covered it with dirt. We dug it up this spring and had about 2 cubic feet of nice fluffy black gold (compost) to add back into this years garden soil. The pile of grass (pictured at the base of the 2 cedar posts leaning against the fence) is the result of tilling a new area for a wild flower garden elsewhere in our yard and it will end up as the bottom layer when we start a new pit in the fall.



Good Luck and happy composting!

[LeftyMom]

7. Take a class.

There might be one through the local waste management dept, or the university extension, or the master gardeners, or the parks dept, so it's hard to tell you where to look, but a little googleing should turn one up. Both the city and county classes here give out a free composting setup when you take the (hour long) class, in addition to telling you how to get started.

The key is the ratio of stuff in there and maintaining the right temperature. As long as you do that, anything that allows your pile to get oxygen will work- mine is just some stakes and snow fencing in a sort of squarish shape.

[PeaceNikki]

11. Thanks! I did find one yesterday!

They don't supply you with anything... but I had a talk with one of the folks at the nature center who runs it. They sell the compost bins for about $70. We talked about how the communities need to start to subsidize a home compost program and do more to help reduce waste. But for now, we're on our own. I posted in our state forum and at least one other DUer will be joining me: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=186x25270 :)

The problem I have is that I am in a 4-unit condo. My personal space outside is limited and is near the building so I need a small contained system. Once I get the hang of it, I will probably try to work with the 3 other families in my building to come up with a solution for us all. For now, I am starting with a small worm-compost like this: http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm.

Thanks for the ideas/tips!

[yellowdogintexas]

8. my hubby built one with PVC pipe as the frame and some sort of

aluminum screening material. The holes are about 1/2 inch square. The heap is about 7 feet wide x 48 inches tall x 4 feet deep. We have a lot of leaves. When he is home for extended periods he turns it about once a month. But he is gone a lot and I don't have stamina to turn it ..I just add stuff to it and water it when we go for a long period w/o rain. The compost works faster if it is evenly moist .

The bottom of mine by now is probably about a foot of good organic humus ..This fall when I prepare my bulb beds for new stuff, we will use it to break up our heavy clay soil.

Another thing that is fun to do is make a new flower bed with the lasagne method.

pick the spot for your bed. If you like you can break up the soil before you start. I have an old piece of outdoor carpeting that I place over the spot for a few months to kill grass and weeds and encourage earthworms. Then start with a thick layer of leaves. Add a nice layer of peat moss, then manure, then some sort of bedding material or your own compost if you have some. Repeat until the bed is as deep as you need it. You can put some sort of frame around it, either bricks, railroad ties, those metal edgings. The end result is a wonderful loamy bed that you can actually plant in without tools. Top dress it with a good mulch, like cypress shreds

This is a wonderful way to create a bed without a lot of digging, or other power gardening. It will stay soft and loamy because there is no sticky clay in it to harden it up.

This discussion is making me feel like going out to weed my bulb bed and sow some butterfly/hummingbird attracting seeds just to see what happens with them. I have several new spots I can plant this year and it is time to plant my purple hyacinth beans and caladiums .

[LostInAnomie]

9. No matter how delicious it looks don't eat it.

Compost isn't food!

[PeaceNikki]

10. Thanks for the tip!

;)