How small can I go with my compost pile?
Can I use a 32 Gal. trash can to make compost? I see HD is selling them quite cheap so I don't mind getting one and aerating it with a hole saw. Naturally I would love a bigger pile but I only have a small garden and space is limited. I just found a good source for cardboard so naturally.... I am all gung ho to compost.
The minimum size of a compost pile should be 3x3x3 in order to heat up properly. Anything smaller, won't heat up well. Instead of a garbage can, you can often find free pallets and they are about the right size to confine a pile. Get a 3-4 ft long 4 inch pvc tube and drill holes in it. Stick it in the middle of the pile for aeration.
This is similar to what we use at the garden center. It makes the best compost of all of the commercial small bin composters. The barrels are the worse, they don't have the volume and unless you drill a lot of holes in them, they are stinky and wet. The tower ones make very little compost and it is always cold so you can only use clean materials to source them. Even with the hoop system, it doesn't always get hot enough so we only use clean material.
https://composterpingoc0.blogspot.com/20 ... oster.html
Ideally you would need three bins. One you are building, one that is cooking and one that is finished.
Cardboard has a high C:N ratio. You want to build your compost from a variety of sources and you need both green and browns. Ideally the net C:N ratio should be 20:1.
This is similar to what we use at the garden center. It makes the best compost of all of the commercial small bin composters. The barrels are the worse, they don't have the volume and unless you drill a lot of holes in them, they are stinky and wet. The tower ones make very little compost and it is always cold so you can only use clean materials to source them. Even with the hoop system, it doesn't always get hot enough so we only use clean material.
https://composterpingoc0.blogspot.com/20 ... oster.html
Ideally you would need three bins. One you are building, one that is cooking and one that is finished.
Cardboard has a high C:N ratio. You want to build your compost from a variety of sources and you need both green and browns. Ideally the net C:N ratio should be 20:1.
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Allyn
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My piles aren't big, so I end up cold-composting. It takes longer for the materials to compost, but everything breaks down eventually. I have earthworms in the piles that are so big, they look like they could be snakes. With your small space, the challenge will be room enough for three piles, as imafan said: one you are building, one that is in progress and one that is finished and ready to use.
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rainbowgardener
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Three compost piles is nice, especially if you really have a LOT of stuff to compost. I get by with two: One that I am building and one that is settling and then being used. Once the second pile is emptied, then I reverse them-- take all the stuff off the top of the pile that has been being built and make it the bottom of the new pile (in the location where the second pile used to be). So the pile that was being built is now finishing up and then being used and the pile that was being used is now being built up again. (Not nearly as complicated to do as it is to describe!Allyn wrote:My piles aren't big, so I end up cold-composting. It takes longer for the materials to compost, but everything breaks down eventually. I have earthworms in the piles that are so big, they look like they could be snakes. With your small space, the challenge will be room enough for three piles, as imafan said: one you are building, one that is in progress and one that is finished and ready to use.
)And one of my pile is a wire cage 3x3x3. The other is an earth machine type tower composter:
https://www.joyofworms.com/wp-content/up ... er-jpg.jpg
Yes, it is mostly cold composting - my piles get warm in the middle; they don't usually get really hot. But they have plenty of earthworms and everything gets well broken down. The only weeds that usually arise where I put my compost down are volunteer tomato plants and the occasional squash.
A lovely example of a tower composter. It makes a small footprint.rainbowgardener wrote:And one of my pile is a wire cage 3x3x3. The other is an earth machine type tower composter:
https://www.joyofworms.com/wp-content/up ... er-jpg.jpg
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Thanks for the responses. I'm not really planning on having three compost piles because I don't have a lot of material to compost. Having grown up financially challenged I hate tossing anything useful if I can rather use it. With the small garden I only generate about a grocery bag worth of trimmings and weeds a week. (Greens) I would rather compost this with some of the free cardboard and regain some nutrients than toss it.
So my idea is to build one pile and when it's done I'll use it. When it's used up I'll start again.
My garden is so small that if I needed to get compost a bag from the home store would probably do just fine but if I can get some free compost from time to time... hey why not.
So my idea is to build one pile and when it's done I'll use it. When it's used up I'll start again.
My garden is so small that if I needed to get compost a bag from the home store would probably do just fine but if I can get some free compost from time to time... hey why not.
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toxcrusadr
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I think you will do fine with a 32 gal can and you can expand when and if it's possible. I started with such a can many moons ago. They are hard to turn and mix material inside of. Try to stir what you are adding into the layers below a bit. Layers are a fact of life but the ideal is 'completely mixed' browns and greens, so do what you can. When it gets full, and this is important, dump it out and fork it back in. If there is finished compost on the bottom, use it.
There are other possible techniques. You can use weeds and clippings as mulch - just lay them down on the ground. Kitchen scraps can be dug into a trench (not too close to plants so as not to disturb roots).
Good luck and enjoy your garden!
There are other possible techniques. You can use weeds and clippings as mulch - just lay them down on the ground. Kitchen scraps can be dug into a trench (not too close to plants so as not to disturb roots).
Good luck and enjoy your garden!
Since you don't have a lot to compost, and if it is mostly kitchen waste and greens and you don't have a lot of space you could try out trench composting.
https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/t ... sting.html
I have done this. I freeze my kitchen waste until I have enough. Freezing breaks down the cell structure so it actually decomposes faster and there is less smell and bugs. Chop up browns into small pieces, run them over with a mower or if you are rich you can use a shredder. I do have to dig my trench deeper though, mongoose will dig up the pit to get to the grubs that are attracted to the scraps. After a few weeks the ground will sink a bit. But it is easy, does not really take up a lot of space. You could plant a green manure on top like buckwheat. Buckwheat will be ready to cut down at flowering in about 6 weeks and tilled in.
https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/t ... sting.html
I have done this. I freeze my kitchen waste until I have enough. Freezing breaks down the cell structure so it actually decomposes faster and there is less smell and bugs. Chop up browns into small pieces, run them over with a mower or if you are rich you can use a shredder. I do have to dig my trench deeper though, mongoose will dig up the pit to get to the grubs that are attracted to the scraps. After a few weeks the ground will sink a bit. But it is easy, does not really take up a lot of space. You could plant a green manure on top like buckwheat. Buckwheat will be ready to cut down at flowering in about 6 weeks and tilled in.
I do like the idea. Thanks for that linkimafan26 wrote:Since you don't have a lot to compost, and if it is mostly kitchen waste and greens and you don't have a lot of space you could try out trench composting.
https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/t ... sting.html