How small to chop up kitchen scraps?

[annafaie]

I get lots of melon rinds, large lettuce leaves, grapefruit halves and such from the deli's in our building. How small do I need to chop these items? I've been putting the lettuce leaves in there as is but I've been cutting the rinds and grapefruits down to 1"x1" pieces (give or take) . Do they need to be smaller? Thanks!!!! Anna

[cynthia_h]

Heck, they don't even have to be as small as you're cutting them!

Some people just toss stuff in whole; I like to cut it down a bit. If I have a lot of stuff, I've been known to stand over the compost bin with pruning shears, chopping stuff into the bin. So it's definitely a rough-cut, not a fine-cut, situation.

I just tear lettuce leaves into thirds maybe.

You actually do not want everything to be of uniform size unless you're turning it quite often. Irregular sizes will help support air pockets, increasing the oxygen supply for the critters who are actually changing the garbage into gold.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[annafaie]

Thanks! I chop with shears over the bin, too. So convenient. Good to know I'm doing it right so far. Most of the time I get so sick of cutting the stuff up that the last 1/3 is dumped in whole....ha!

Thanks again! Anna

[bullthistle]

Why waste your energy. If you have a good blender use that, I do. Makes the jobs easier for the worms and I have thousands of red wigglers in the summer.

[rot]

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Of course you could just plan an letting the compost take a little longer and let the compost do all the work of breaking down all those ingredients.
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