how do I get started, we got too much plant waste

[garlic bronco]

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[rainbowgardener]

Congratulations on wanting to re-use/ recycle instead of wasting!

To get started browse around in this forum some.

Here's a nice summary thread:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29022&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Basically you need three things to compost: a mixture of "green" and "brown" organic stuff (more on that later), air, and water.

See the Sticky at the top of this forum on greens and browns. Green = soft, moist, high in nitrogen. Brown = hard, dry, high in carbon. It does not refer to color, since manure is a "green."

Sounds like you will have lots of greens, all the plant waste. So then the question is some browns to mix in with them. Are the boxes cardboard? If so then they could be torn up a little bit, and be a great brown. Otherwise see the sticky for other suggestions, including shredded paper.

It isn't absolutely necessary, but helps to have something to contain your pile, to keep it piled. There's lots of plans around for homemade bins from pallets that are available free.

So you make a bin, you pile your browns and greens in it (mixed or layered), you water it a little, occasionally, to make it about as damp as a wrung out sponge, and you sit back and watch it compost! If your compost pile isn't sitting on dirt and doesn't have soil going in to it, it will help it, if you throw in a handful of topsoil and a few earthworms every now and then, to "seed" it with micro-organisms. You want to be sure it gets air into the pile, so you can turn it/ stir it now and then or you can just push a long stick down into it in a few places, to leave air channels, every once in awhile.

If everything is working right, there will be NO smell, except a little bit of earthiness if you are right up next to it.

That's it! You can get lots more detailed and technical, but you don't need to. It doesn't have to be rocket science.. Compost Happens, as we say.

If you are not growing things and don't have a use for the compost you create, you could bag it up and sell it. It's like black gold to gardeners!

[tomc]

Or, offer compostables up to be taken away (for free) via craigs list or freecycle.

[Tilde]

As in cut flowers? Or what other kind of floral is on there? I ask because I've had reactions to the pesticides used in those flowers (we bought a couple big boxes from a wholesaler to DIY a couple of weddings).

The link got wierd but you can start digging here ....

https://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/iwm

Are you sure everything was being taken to the landfill? Will cancelling the trash service be in violation of any local laws?

Just thinking out loud .... good luck with finding a solution that works, I'm eager to hear what you come up with!

[garlic bronco]

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[toxcrusadr]

Kudos for fixing the 'waste waste'!

You don't want to use the diesel/burn method, that's for sure. You would need a burn permit in CA I would think and would probably never get one. Much much better to compost.

Are you thinking of composting onsite, or hauling home to your property, or...? That could make a difference. You might be subject to some regulations if you do it onsite, for example are you in a city where that would even be allowed for a business? If you are considering this, contact the city and ask about regulations. It's not food waste though, so it may be OK.

If you take it home, and can do it without attracting a lot of attention in terms of odors or appearance, you will probably be OK. Technically speaking you usually can't dispose of a 'waste' from a business at home, but as long as you aren't causing problems with the neighbors, there is no reason for anyone to hassle you.

If you don't have the space/time/desire to compost it yourself, or the volume is larger than what you would want to handle on a regular basis, offer the excess on Freecycle or Craigslist as suggested. Or, offer it to customers! Starbucks did it for years with used coffee grounds. Put up a sign at the counter inviting customers to take home a box or bag full for their compost.

[toxcrusadr]

I was going to say that if some of this stuff is kind of woody, like the greenery or even some flower stems, it would compost faster if you shred it. You wouldn't need a big gas shredder unless you have massive amounts, but a machete might be too much work. A small electric shredder is what I'm thinking of. Like Green Works, less than $200.

OTOH if you're not using the compost you may not care how long it takes. Pile it up and let it rot.

[rainbowgardener]

I was going to say that if some of this stuff is kind of woody, like the greenery or even some flower stems, it would compost faster if you shred it. You wouldn't need a big gas shredder unless you have massive amounts, but a machete might be too much work. A small electric shredder is what I'm thinking of. Like Green Works, less than $200.

OTOH if you're not using the compost you may not care how long it takes. Pile it up and let it rot.

I agree. I love my little electric shredder. And even if OP doesn't care about the compost, with the amount of material involved, it would start taking up a lot of space somewhere, especially if it doesn't compost very fast. So shred! (You aren't talking about any big branches, so a very light duty chipper shredder would be fine for what you are doing.)

[toxcrusadr]

My wife bought one of the electric ones, and I made fun of it until we started clearing some cedar trees on our place and feeding the branches through. It makes really nice mulch out of that soft stuff.

[garlic bronco]

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[toxcrusadr]

We don't wish to make it too complicated! You know, the simplest way to make compost is 'pile it up and let it rot.' You will eventually get compost from that if no one comes to take it off your hands. That's how nature does it. We're full of ideas to make it faster, more efficient, better product, etc., but in the end, pile it up and forget it usually works.

[rainbowgardener]

Tox is of course right, you can do pile and forget it. But I still have this idea that the compost if you are willing to put just a little effort in to it, could become an important sideline product for you:

https://pgpirggarden.tumblr.com/post/660724476/compost-for-sale

https://www.dirtworks.net/Intervale-Compost.html (20 quart bags for $12 + S&H)

[toxcrusadr]

Yeah, I like it! As a wholesaler you'd have less access to the final flower consumer who might be a great customer. So a marketing plan would have to be thought up. But, people will pay good money for boutique compost, if you can find them.

[garlic bronco]

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[Tilde]

Well, I was hoping when a reply popped up it was pictures and more details ....

I'm just going to toss it out back and when I have a good sized pile of it offer it up on Craigslist after I offer it to friends, or if a friend wants to come deal with it there more then welcome

So the problem, restated is:

An unknown amount of green waste is accumulated.

An unknown amount of brown waste is accumulated.

A much smaller amount of garbage waste that is not reasonably recyclable in your case is accumulated.

The cost of hauling these off is $500 monthly for a Dumpster of unknown capacity.

Recycling the cardboard (presumably through the county) defrays some of the $500 a month, though not a lot. Also cuts down on the need for the unknown capacity @ 500$ monthly somewhat.

Not throwing away the greenery would also cut down on the need for the unknown capacity @ 500$ a month somewhat - but it still needs to go somewhere.

~ Presuming the county of Santa Clara with it's [url=https://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/iwm]IWM[/url] is zero help to you - won't provide incentives for composting/recycling the green? Assistance at least of guidance?

~ Presuming you've verified with the hauler they can downsize you legally (there might be minimum required capacity hauling in your county, I don't know).

~ Presuming you have a decent amount of room for green waste.

So the new questions become:

How much green waste do you get a month? Unchipped or compacted, how much space would it take up?

If you don't have or don't want to add browns to it, just going to pile it and hope someone wants it, I'm going to guess ... no. Chipped, maybe.

What is your workflow for getting the greens daily, monthly, weekly?

For example, when I trim my home bushes, I'll take a couple inches off all the way around every couple of months, maybe fill up a 30 gal trash can uncompacted. It doesn't make sense for me to use a chipper, so I make several passes cutting off a little bit more each time until it's shaped. Then I put my stuff into my leaf moulder "compost" pots on the front porch.

Building forward thoughts with theoretical as I've never had a greenery shop ...

If I had I dunno, a medium size shop and collected that much stuff daily, I'd probably get a cordless (or long corded) small shredder and each time I filled a basket or so, walk it over to the shredder, shred it, put it in a spot out back or in a wheel barrow I dump daily.

If I had a lot of waste, I'd have each person doing the trimming and wasteing putting them in their big baskets and running it through the shredder daily (folks here taught me the sooner the better, the deader, you'll regret-her) and dumping it "out back" daily.

When you get a couple pickup truck loads full in one pile, let it set for a few weeks to finish drying out and start a new pile - when the "old one" is brown enough, have people come and get it.

Gloves and goggles, unplug it to unjam it.

As for marking out where to put it, a simple fenced in area would work - or if you want people to be able to get at it with real earth moving tools, a fence of hog wire and posts, stuck in cinderblocks for stability/mobility. Not something I've done specifically, but thought of for a mobile but stable fencing solution.

[toxcrusadr]

Good summary Tilde. He said it was a wholesale facility, so it seems the volume and schedule of generating the stuff could be quite different from a retail florist shop.

[garlic bronco]

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[toxcrusadr]

I think you have a pretty good plan. I doubt you will notice any odors, and you don't really need to shred. It may take a year or more for good compost to form, but since that's not your goal and you have plenty of space you should be fine.

I would suggest making long piles (windrows), adding new stuff to the end of the pile. When it gets as long as you want start another one next to it. It keeps it organized, so if you or someone needs to haul away compost, there's no need to sort or dig through the fresh stuff to find it. Just go to the end of the oldest windrow. You can pile these several feet high and they will shrink down as the stuff decomposes.

If you do run into odor problems you can add browns, such as your cardboard, but I'd try it with minimal effort first.

[Flinter.50]

The rows are a great way to go. Our city has a leaf dump site (I'm sure some greens get in there, too) and all they do is push any errant piles back into the rows with frontend loaders. By the end of the fall there are at least five new rows about 75' long and at least 10' high.

In the spring, the oldest rows get moved into a big pile near the entrance. It may not be the most nitrogen-rich product but it's beautifully broken down and sure adds humus to heavy soil.

With the volume and coarseness your types of trimmings will create, you just might want to consider the chipper. Mums will break down quickly but cattail, rose stems, and curly willow (not familiar with the other items mentioned) will take quite a while and the space needed will add up pretty quickly even given the 12 acres. The "two wheelbarrow loads per day on average" will by neccessity get farther and farther to haul. This may be why the previous owners had the dumpster: opting for convenience over cost savings but they definately made poor choices as to what to put in it. But, to each his own method. Kudos on the cardboard recycling!

Good luck, gb, on your new business.