Dance with me!!!

[carol_in_va]

***while doing a happy dance***

It's steamin', it's steamin', IT'S STEAMING!!!


For the last couple years we've been dumping yard waste in a pallet compost area; wood chips, grass, leaves, etc., but I never really paid much attention to watering it. It breaks down, but very sloooowly. Two days ago I was perusing this forum and soaking up lots of great information. I woke up yesterday morning thinking about my compost bin So I went out there and bit by bit I turned it all and wet it down. A few minutes ago I was out there and I poked it a few times with a stick, then peeled back the top layer just a wee bit. It was freakin steaming!!! lol How exciting! Of course, my two boys are taking massive amounts of credit, as it HAD to be their contributions (they've been peeing on it ) that got things moving along.

We've been putting kitchen scraps in another bin a bit closer to the house, but I think now that I have the keys to moving things along faster I'll combine them.

[tomc]

Next thing you'll be stealing bags of leaves on trash day.

Shakes head.

FWIW if you have a large yard and your local transfer station charges landscapers to tip off leaves in the fall, a few cups of coffee at the local donut store, can go a long way to inducing those yard services to drop off their autumnal leaves at your yard...

[carol_in_va]

I just went out and bought my very own, brand new compost thermometer. The pile is measuring at 150*!!!

Next thing you'll be stealing bags of leaves on trash day.

Shakes head.

FWIW if you have a large yard and your local transfer station charges landscapers to tip off leaves in the fall, a few cups of coffee at the local donut store, can go a long way to inducing those yard services to drop off their autumnal leaves at your yard...

Actually, we live on about 11 wooded acres. No need to steal leaves here, we have PLENTY! A lot of oak. Whenever my sons add grass clippings I have them rake up some leaves from the woods, too. As for the coffee, dh and I love the stuff. We add a 1/2 c per day, plus filter, of course (sometimes twice!). With 7 of us there are plenty of tp rolls and paper towel tubes. I hadn't been adding those until just last week. Not to mention all the veggie scraps... We fill two 1 gallon ice cream buckets about 2-3 times per week. Then there's the bunny litter, and my boys have been adding their own "special blend" to it. I've also got my mom holding her coffee grounds and banana peels. No shortages here! Although, I have to admit, looking for stuff to pile on in is like a scavenger hunt, and kind of addicting... Now I'm on the lookout for more pallets; time for another bin, I think...

[!potatoes!]

it's nice to get some from off property, though, if only to leave some 'home-grown' leaves as a source of nutrients and compost for the trees themselves. you gotta pay them back, after all, and it's easy to let them pay themselves back...

[Moley]

I get all the pallets I want in sunset park Brooklyn, very industrial area, go by at night in the pickup and rest is history...

[rainbowgardener]

Agree with potatoes, especially if your home grown leaves are mostly oak. They don't break down as easily as some other kinds. It would be nice to have a good mixture. You wouldn't need a whole lot, but a few bags of other leaves to mix in would be a good addition.

But congratulations!!! [Dancing ...] Isn't it exciting! I became a gardener to have something to do with my compost, once I got hooked on composting.

[carol_in_va]

Thanks potatoes & rainbowgardener, I will look for other sources to pillage from. Our local dump is rather stingy with anything dropped off there. It use to be they would run all yard waste through a chipper and give it away, but they haven't done that for 2 years now. I'll keep my eyes peeled. I was going to get pallets from them, too, but I'm not sure they'll allow it. :/ There IS a nice neighborhood not far from here that always seems to have landscapers around. Maybe I'll stop and chat with the workers one day when I just happen to have my truck out...

Moley, sounds great, but I'm a good 6-700 miles south of there! lol

I've called around to the local stores and they all send their pallets back to the vendors who bring them to be recycled. We use to get them from my FIL, who works at Kroger's, but he and dh haven't spoken in about two years now.

I turned the pile today, it was down to about 140*. There was lots of steam and a lot of white in there, like a coating of ash. What was that? There were also a lot of big, juicy earthworms down at the bottom. I took them, along with the stuff scraped off the bottom, and fed my potatoes, then added some more straw. I also saw the tail end of a little snake at the bottom corner of the pile.

[gixxerific]

Good for you.

That reminds me I need to turn mine.