Where is best location for compost & how level should it

[pickupguy07]

I am sure this has been covered... but I didn't find it in a search..
If someone knows of a thread feel free to point me in that direction.
I have two questions...
1) where is the "best" place for a compost to be located. I have one of two options.... one is what would be considered "full sun"... the other is in a spot that is shady all day.
2) I read about having the compost bins 'level". How important a factor is that. My whole back yard has 'some' slope to it. I located it in the 'flatest place I had - I am guessing about 4 inches higher in the front than the back.."" My hole yard (except right up in my beautiful front yard has a slope -and I'd rather not put tacky looking compost bins out there... LOL)
So.. what are the best options for location, and what about not being 'level.
TIA

[rainbowgardener]

Location is mainly about convenience. You want your compost to be where you can readily get to it to empty yard waste and kitchen waste into it, even through the rain and snow and winter cold.


Sun or shade depends partly on your climate. The main thing you don't want is for your compost pile to ever dry totally out. You want it not wet but a bit damp all the time. If you have humid rainy summers, it may not matter much where it is. If you have hot, dry summers, you want the compost in the shade to help keep it from drying out.

I don't see that level is so important. My compost pile is slightly sloped for the same reason, that my whole yard ranges from slightly sloped to steep. If the slope would mean that stuff would always be falling forward, you could just build up the low end a bit-- bricks, pavers or even just some sticks.

[pickupguy07]

ok thanks..
I live in Georgia.. so we typicall have hot dry summers.. I just have one bin built and in place.. maybe I should consider moving it into the shade before I add on.
thanks

[bogydave]

Locate it where it best fits into your landscape,

Happy composting

[rot]

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Sun and wind will dry things out so if you have a lot of either, shelter from the sun or the wind.

A hot bin in the shade means it's active. It will use up the moisture provided fast. It just gets thirsty. Add water accordingly.

to sense
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[pickupguy07]

yeah... definately looks like I should move it...
I have a place that will be in shade most of the time...
I'll have to go down and clean out some brians, muskadine vines, etc tomorrow.
Somewhere I read to keep all that stuff away so it don't grow into the bins (or up from underneath..)
Have to do that. We are going to go get a HUGE load of semi-fresh horse manure (with stable straw included) Tuesday.
That with newspapers, etc should give me lots of greens and browns for a while.
Maybe I can get two 4 x 4 bins made before Fall..??
sure like to get it done, and add it to the garden this fall.

Dad has had his garden where it is fro about 10 years.
He adds horse manure every couple years... and even rented a gas-powered post hole digger and drilled holes all over his garden 18" to 24" deep a couple times
His ground has gotten so good it looks like larger sized pieces of sand. It is very fine with no lumps clumps or anything. Wish I had MINE look like that... but like I said, he's been gardening in the same spot for 10+ years. Takes time I guess.

[rot]

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I'm not sure what you're on about with regard to brains, muskadine vines etc.

I have a spot where there are pavers on a flat piece of ground and I set up my compost bins there. The worms manage to make their way into the bins but the pavers keep the rodents and the tree roots out. All that and I can sweep up after turning.

Oh, no such a thing as a major disaster while composting. You should have to change things around on a dime.

to sense
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[rot]

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CORRECTION

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You should NOT have to change things around on a dime.

to sense
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[applestar]

This is not based on any certainty, but my opinion only --

I think if a compost pile is on a slope, the leached "goodness" will seep downslope from the compost pile, so it would be a good idea to be able to have access to/dig up and use the enriched topsoil as time goes on.

In my case, it feels like the compost pile area keeps getting deeper as I scrape up the enriched soil -- converted from solid clay -- from underneath, and I've already had to re-grade the area once. Tossing a fair amount of brush/sticks in the bottom of the piles has been working for me.

[pickupguy07]

I'm not sure what you're on about with regard to brains, muskadine vines etc.

My bad.. sometimes my little fat fingers don't hit the keys I intended.. LOL
I MEANT to say..
I'll have to go down and clean out some briars, muskadine vines, (maybe evn a little poison ivy) etc tomorrow... to have a clear area around the bins

'brains'.. I don't have enough of them as it is.. I don't need to go clear any of them out... ROFLOL

[toxcrusadr]

I think you actually wrote 'brians' and I thought, who has a bunch of guys named Brian living in a thicket behind their compost bin? But if I did I reckon I would want to clean them out too.

I've heard the muscadine grape makes a decent wine...don't have any this far north though.

The microbes will deffly notice if the pile is not level and the C:N ratio of your compost will be crooked.

[pickupguy07]

yeah.. muskadine wine is good..
Dad makes some killer tuff.. also grape, etc etc.. He even made lemon wine once. Pretty must tasted like a margarita

[rot]

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Poison Ivy? Yuck. I'm itching already.

Yeah I'm sure on a slope it will drain leach down hill. I'm just not exactly sure which way down hill. Close to the surface or deeper still. Is there a hydrologist in the house?

Wewease the Bwians.

to sense
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[pickupguy07]

yeah.. seeng as how my land lies,.. I guess I am just going to have to live with it.

Yesterday I got out cleared a big spot in the edge of the woods... went about 8 feet back into the woods.. I tore out briars, vines, etc etc
SO the first four feet (outermost) is for the bins,.. and the extra 8 feet is so I can mow aroud behind it and keep it clear.
And it'll keep more in the shade, and should dry out less with our hot summers.
Even with all the storms we had down here in the south. They have all missed me. I have had less than 1/2 inch of rain over the last 7 or 8 weeks. The day all the bad storms came through.; and folks got lots of rain. I didn't get a drop. hhuumm
Good thing I am on a well...

[rainbowgardener]

Wow, I sure wish we could share some of ours with you. Up here we have had nothing but rain all through April and May. We must be part of why the Mississippi is flooding... our water goes in to the Ohio which goes in to the Mississippi. It's cold and raining again today.

We got weather up into the 90's for a little while and put all the fans in windows and shut the furnace down. Then it got cold again, but can't close windows unless we take all the fans back out, so we are just suffering through on the premise that it WILL warm up again soon. It got down into the low 50's degrees INSIDE our house last night!!

[hendi_alex]

Rainbowgardener, I've got a whole house, probably 42 inch, attic fan. It is 30 years old, but never used more than 20-30 hours. Here in S.C. it does nothing but pull hot air, and isn't overly useful in the cool spring and fall because of all of the pollen. I'm going to pull the fan, probably before next season. Figure out a way to get it to Ohio, and you can have it. This fan is powerful enough to pull quite a breeze in three to four windows open at once. I have it set on a 12 hour timer, which makes the operation quite convenient to shut off late at night when the temperature drops.

[toxcrusadr]

I've been thinking about one of those attic fans. On a warm (not too hot) day the sun really heats up our attic too, and having the fan exhaust into that space would cool down the attic and roof, which I think would make the whole house cool down faster in the evening when the sun goes down. Might not even have to run the AC overnight. Therefore, big energy saver. It's kind of a messy job to put one in and get power to it so I haven't tackled it yet.

[rainbowgardener]

Topic seems to have wandered off from composting, but I have a whole house attic fan and love it! But we also use some window fans, bring air in at the bottom and vent it out at the top. It works great, we just got caught in the weird weather swings... Who knew it was going to get this cold again, this late in May, after being 90?

[toxcrusadr]

The bizarre temperature swings and all the rain have really messed up my composting efforts. How's that for putting it back on track?