Thinking about getting into composting

[Rairdog]

I just dig a trough about 18 inches deep. Put the dirt from trough in the garden or beds. Then fill in the trough with leaves, grass and scraps. A partly shady spot in the yard that is always a weed problem is a great place.

[toxcrusadr]

A horse will produce a prodigious amount of manure. According to some online fact sheets, a horse can produce 30 lb of poop and 2.5 gal of pee per day. Per DAY. You should have no trouble filling several bins if you're willing to collect that much. :-]

I found that after a few years of aggressively collecting materials and adding compost to my poor soils, I could slack off and go into maintenance mode. Now I pretty much compost what comes from my own kitchen and yard. If your soil is poor and you're going to amend it on a large scale, a multi bin system might be just the ticket for high volume throughput.

[rainbowgardener]

Between the sawdust and the horse manure, you have more composting materials than you can possibly use unless you want to go into the business of selling compost!

But both sawdust and manure have the tending to pack down and exclude air and moisture problem. So you will want to have a few other ingredients in there that will tend to loosen it up and keep air pockets. Horses usually have straw bedding in their stalls. If your horse manure comes complete with straw bedding, that will mostly take care of it. Otherwise throw in a few twigs and rough stuff, remains of tough stems of stuff you cut down in your garden, etc.

[Susan W]

I suggest getting into the composting. You have space and additives. You'll be surprised how much can come out of your kitchen once you get into this. Examples being any peels, stems etc, coffee ground with the filter, tea bags.

Slightly off topic, don't think you have to devote all of this garden energy into veggies! Think about more flowers, herbs, interesting plants. Most people on this board grow veggies, especially peppers and tomatoes. That is good. I for one don't touch peppers, and the squirrels like to mess with any tomatoes. My strong suit is herbs, flowers and different plants (also sell at the farmers market).

Gardening is work, but keep it fun and rewarding. There's lots of trial and error, I'm very good at both.

[treehopper]

I compost without cages or containers. Allow for 3 piles as big or small as you choose. One space is for the active pile you add to regularly, one space is for "finished" compost, and the third space is where the active pile gets turned to on a weekly or bi weekly basis. Living in a somewhat country area, some of the turning of the compost is taken care of by the critters, but they really don't scatter it too far.

[redneck647]

My soil is still pretty bad. I didn't want to pay to bring in better soil so I'm slowly working on improving it.
Sadly the horse's bedding is sawdust....
I could gather some sticks and toss in to help but I don't know that they would compost that quickly. At the end of the growing season the tomato, pepper, and potato plants will get tossed in so that should help. I could try tossing in the corn stalks to help but I read they should be cut up first?

Susan W I have some berry bushes too. They just aren’t in the garden itself. I never had much interest in growing flowers but I’ve been thinking about trying some in the garden just to try bringing in some extra bugs.

[toxcrusadr]

It's good to chop up stalky things into 6-12" pieces. You can use a sharp shovel, or if you want, go to the military surplus store and a get a $10 machete for hacking through jungles. Works great using an old stump or a piece of wood for a chopping block. You can also use the mower.

Re: sawdust and compaction, you can do simple things to help it. If you have a pitchfork or anything else sharp, poke holes into the pile now and then for aeration. More frequent turning helps a lot but it's more work. You can gauge by temp and odor - if it's hot and smelling pretty bad, probably not enough air. Although it is poop so it will not smell like roses even on a good day. ;-]

[redneck647]

Luckily I already have 2 machetes. I also have a pitchfork that would probably work for making holes. And yes I don't really expect it to have the greatest smell but its far enough from the house that I think it would be ok.

[toxcrusadr]

What I always say is get in there and try it, observe the results, and adjust. You'll get the hang of it.

Happy rotting!

[tomc]

Not really much I can do if one of the bears decides to go rutting though it. Lol.

Bear are pretty utilitarian. They will turn your compost if you have added composting worms. Mostly they will stir the top of the bin to check for yummy kitchen scraps.

If bear are a regular visitor to your compost, its better to put kitchen scraps out some place else. They may not be that destructive to a bin but will scare the humanure out of civilians.

[redneck647]

Well looks like there might be a change of plans on this whole set up. I lost my girlfriend so no free horse manure...
Usually we get at least one bear hanging around a little bit each year. I don't mind them too much unless they cause trouble.

[toxcrusadr]

Please tell me the bear didn't run off with your gf !

Seriously though, sorry to hear that, and I'm sending positive thoughts for abundant compostables to come your way soon.

[redneck647]

No wasn't any bears involved in that one.
I'll see what I can do once the snow goes away. I'll probably end up with a really unbalanced pile but it might work. We'll see.

[toxcrusadr]

You know what they say, It All Leads Back to Compost. Eventually.

Also, composting can be therapeutic and stress-relieving.

[rainbowgardener]

Also, composting can be therapeutic and stress-relieving.

For us weird gardener types anyway, it really is.

I was out over the weekend taking advantage of the warm up (this coming weekend it is going down to 5 degrees again ). I couldn't turn my old compost pile, it was still frozen solid, but I did start a new compost pile, with a bunch of accumulated kitchen scraps, plus fall leaves, plus dead stuff trimmed from the garden. (When the weather is nasty, I wimp out and just put the full bucket of kitchen scraps on the screened in porch. Critters can't get it there and it just freezes, so doesn't get real nasty. So I had 3 full buckets of kitchen scraps!)

Anyway my point in there was that just being out in relatively mild weather and enjoying the garden and playing in the compost and thinking about all the lovely stuff that was going to be grown out of this, made me so happy!

[redneck647]

I wish I could start something yet. Everything’s still under snow here. But next month I can start planting indoors.

[rainbowgardener]

When is your average last frost date?

Next month sounds late if you are planning to start any cool weather stuff. I start broccoli, cabbage, kale etc 11-12 weeks before my average last frost date. The transplants go in the ground outside a month before my last frost date. Once hardened off, they are extremely frost hardy and benefit from the cool weather. Once it gets hot, they will tend to bolt and be done.

This year I started broccoli and cabbage seed , etc indoors under lights, 1/24 (last year it was 1/17). I will be aiming to have the transplants in the ground around mid Mar (which is next month!). My average last frost date is mid-April.

[redneck647]

My last frost date is May 20th.
For the cauliflower my schedule says to start at the end of march and transplant outside at the end of April but I may be doing it wrong. I've never had success with it. The cabbage I sow outside mid April. It seems to work as long as the wildlife doesn’t eat it them first.

[redneck647]

I think I found a new source of greens. I found a cabinet full of canned food. Of course they all expired at least 10 years ago... I was going to use some of it as fishing bait but the corn and stuff seems to have started fermenting. The meat I’ll save as catfish bait but I'm thinking of mixing the vegetables and fruit in with my sawdust to start the pile.
I know this might draw more attention from wildlife but is there any reason the old canned food shouldn't be used?

[toxcrusadr]

It will work just fine. Doesn't matter if kitchen scraps are cooked or raw, put them in. Just make sure you mix or layer with some browns (I think you had sawdust) to balance. Most of us put in kitchen scraps all winter, and by spring it's halfway to being compost. I can usually turn that pile (actually a plastic bin) in early spring (March) and by the end of planting season (May-June) I have a batch ready to use.

[redneck647]

Yes I still have plenty of sawdust. And thanks. I just wanted to make sure first. Hopefully I'll get my pallets this month and start the pile.

[treehopper]

Don't wait for the pallets...start now dump your compostables on the snow if need be. I run out a couple gallons of coffee grounds green trimmings egg shells every other day or so all winter long. When the spring comes you'll have a leg up on the compost pile. If you don't have a fork, get one. Turning compost is good as a low impact workout, and there's no fees or membership dues.

[redneck647]

Lol. I don't think you understand my situation here. I have an almost 2 foot snow drift between the house and the future pile. and more keeps coming. plus I don't think anything I toss out will break down while frozen solid. I really don't think its worth it just yet.
I do have a fork somewhere and will try to turn it from time to time. I need to get back into shape any way. Lol.

[toxcrusadr]

At some point you'll get cabin fever and it'll be sunny and you'll want to put on boots and slog through that snow drift. No, it won't break down while frozen solid, but it will when it thaws. Whereas if you throw it out you don't get any compost. All depends on how bad you want compost and how cabin-feverish you are.

[redneck647]

Well over the past few weeks I got the bin set up and started the pile. So far its mostly browns from leaning up around the garden but hopefully that will get corrected.
One new question I have is on weed seeds. I read that I shouldn’t toss weeds that have gone to seed into it because the seeds could survive and sprout in the garden. However tossing spoiled tomatoes and the like in it is fine? Wouldn't the seeds in them cause the same problems? Are there some seeds that are worse then others?
So far I'm avoiding tossing any seed clusters I find into the pile but probably miss some. I figure any that survive will just get added back in as greens and maybe help some. Just wondering what the best option would be.

[rainbowgardener]

Well, everywhere I use my compost, I get volunteer tomato plants popping up, from the tomatoes that go in the compost. It's not the worst thing in the world. The little tomato seedlings are very easy to pull and every once in awhile I leave one to grow into a tomato plant.

Occasionally I get volunteer squashes from the compost, rarely anything else, though I am not all that careful about keeping weed seeds out of the pile. Even with cool to warm composting (not hot), the seeds mostly do break down.

[ElizabethB]

Once you start composting you will be hooked!

My 2 cents: I have 2 4' x 4' x 4' adjacent boxes made from scrap lumber and chicken wire. Some of the uprights and cross member boards are scabbed. Doesn't matter. The front of each box has only an 18" footer. The benefit is ease of turning from one box to another rather than trying to turn a mass of material in one box. The low front footer makes access for turning and removing easy.

My neighbor wanted compost bins. She scavenged big box stores, local markets, produce markets, on and on until she found free pallets. G helped her screw them together and cut one to create a low front.

If you do have issues with critters add a pallet to the top. Hinge the front and the top. To make adding daily kitchen scraps easier cut a hatch in the top and hinge it. Use snap latches to deter critters - especially raccoons. Simple slip latches won't work.

When I first attempted composting I used a loose pile. It was OK but it was a mess and an eye sore. Not good in a subdivision.

Do read the post at the beginning of the composting forum. Lots of good information on the proper balance of browns and greens.

Even with diligent attention and work you will be lucky to get your compost hot enough to kill off weed seeds. No need to worry about a compost fire.

DITTO previous posters. The only compost fires I have ever heard of are from poorly managed municipal composting facilities.

We have a municipal composting facility that has been in service for at least 40 years. They process HUGE amounts of compost and have never had a fire.

Good luck

[redneck647]

Thanks Rainbow. I'll probably keep doing as I am now then. I already have to stay on top of the weeds anyway or they take over.

Elizabeth thanks for the info. Right now I just have one box made out of 4 pallets. They're wire together and the one side I fixed up a latch out to the wire that I can undo and swing that side open. For now my plan is to try to mix it up with the pitchfork once a week or so. If I really want to I could just move the pallets and then toss the pile back into them.
Eventually I went to add at least a second compartment so can let this pile work down and add the new stuff to the next but I;m not close to filling this one yet.
And yes I'm no longer worried about it catching fire.
I have read the sticky post and a handful of other sites and info on composting. Its all been very helpful but sometimes I run into conflicting ideas and like to ask for opinions.

So far I'm getting more weeds coming up in the garden that I'm adding as greens to the pile.

[toxcrusadr]

Usually the conflicting info is in the details. The main points of composting - its benefits, mixing browns and greens, moisture, air - everyone agrees on. Sounds like you're on your way!

[redneck647]

Here is the result so far.

I know at this stage it has a lot more browns in it then greens but I'm getting more greens now.
My hope to fill it up and by next spring I might have something useable.

[tomc]

The subject line sounds messy

Even if you don't quite get greens and browns balanced, its still gonna rot.

[rainbowgardener]

Looks good. Even when the garden is frozen and not producing anything, if you cook from whole foods (fruits and veggies), you will have plenty of kitchen scraps, which are all greens. I fill up a 2 gallon bucket every week with kitchen scraps, that all go in the compost pile.

[redneck647]

Thanks everyone.
Its still a small pile but it has become home to multiple bugs and is already starting to shrink.

[redneck647]

I know I made some mistakes learning but did manage to get some compost. I've now added a second bin and found this under my pile.

I know it still has a little bit of stuff in it but since I'm not planting a real crop until spring could this be mixed into my garden now as is? Or does it still need moor time to finish out of the garden?

[imafan26]

If it smells earthy; is not steaming or have white stuff in it (actinomycetes); and it has broken down enough that you cannot really identify what it came from, I.e. branches, twigs, coffee grounds, peels, etc. then it is good to go. Some people will sift the compost and throw back into the pile anything that still looks like it could use more composting.

[toxcrusadr]

Looks like compost to me!

[redneck647]

Thanks.
I know its not much but I got 3 5 gallon buckets of compost from the pile and have a little left over yet that I'll save to up plant stuff next year before it goes into the garden.
I also have the second bin starting to fill up for next year. I Know soon it'll be to cold to do anything but it should give me a jump start in the spring.

[toxcrusadr]

Save some fall leaves or whatever you can find for browns and keep it next to the bin. All winter you can layer your kitchen scraps with browns. The freezing and thawing will help break up fibers and cells, and when it's warm enough it will compost a little. Even 40F is warm enough for slow microbial activity.

[redneck647]

Thanks. I'm going to try but winter is usaly below 30 here. And the compost bin will probably have deep snow drifts between it and the house so it might stop until spring.
Luckaly the leaves are just starting to fall so once they do I'm going to cover the garden with them for the winter and and then pile as many more as I can into the bin I took this years finished compost from. Hopefully that wikk give me a good stock pile.

[toxcrusadr]

We have some big snows here too so I use a lazy method for winter. I keep a 5-gal bucket with a lid outside the back door. In bad weather I just open the door, dump the kitchen bucket into it, and go back to my coffee and woodstove. When the weather is a bit nicer I haul the bucket out to the compost pile.