Composting, Mid Atlantic Style

Great idea, Coleup!

ssg, I don't get fruit flies, even though I sometimes put rotten fruit in there, because there's a tight lid.

My current problem, which I'm going to solve today, is moths in the house - they've even eaten clothes - and I just found out that loose seed is to blame: Ehow says that "Bird seed is a popular breeding ground for meal moths, which lay eggs in the bird seed because it is an ideal food source for their larvae."

From now on, I'm going to be really diligent about keeping bags closed tightly and cleaning up spills right away.

Fruit flies or fungus gnats, you could have either or both, but they are both easy to get rid of. I just leave a little vinegar out in a small ramekin over night and they pretty much go for a swim. I believe ours are usually fruit flies, however we have had fungus gnats. One year we had to take all our lg. house plants outside on a warm day and water with a mild insecticide to end that problem. Most of the time we keep our kitchen stuff in an old ice bucket, functional, attractive, and cheap at second hand shops. Then we dump it in a larger container in our driveway/service area. When that gets full it's on to the compost. That big container hardly ever freezes, it is so active. We also add green stuff from small jobs, such as plant grooming and dump small pots in it. Since we have been recycling our waste stream has gone to about one kitchen size trash bag a week.

Gita, I don't get fungus gnats in my house plants. The only time I had it was when I used regular peat based potting mixes. When I use Al's 511 mix, the surface dries out too quickly and they can't survive.

Fruit flies seem to love banana peels in particular.

What brings me to tears is all the brown leaves in our neighborhood that get bagged up and put on the curb. My neighbors are "green lawn crazy" with the Lawn Pro truck running up and down all summer. I wouldn't dare put any of their clippings or leaves in my compost. This leaves me with dead heads and the like. The other thing that drives me to tears is my husband insists on using the mulching cycle on our mower and waits til I leave for work to run out and put the leaves out. My son promised when he comes home on the next school break he's going to build me another bin so I can collect leaves from the woods. Lovely boy.

Yehudithe

Oh Muddy I feel for you! When we moved into our old house I had tons of cashmere sweaters and dresses and other things made of wool. When I took them out to wear they looked like swiss cheese. The whole place was infested with moths. My pantry was a nightmare. It heaved and seethed. I ended up getting the bug bombs that you use when you have dog fleas. We set off the bombs and went away for the weekend. I keep all grain and bean products in the freezer now and that has prevented the problem in this house. Now for the roaches! Thank G-d I've avoided them. I go into many patient's houses that are just crawling with the things. My bag never ever comes in the house!

Yehudith, I agree, all those lost leaves..if only all that were composted and applied back where they came from like in nature. Instead people buy manmade fertilizer.
I don't know how much of what goes in my county 'yard waste' actually gets used as compost or mulch. Or does a lot of it get piled somewhere? Hopefully it is NOT filling up the 'sanitary landfill'

Ug roaches - saw a few when I inspected restaurants. I can tolerate and even like a lot of outdoor bugs, but those I have a (mostly) irrational loathing of.

My roomie was a housing inspector- she saw a lot. When we saw one in our townhouse, she immediately blamed the next townhouse connected. She turned out 100 percent right. When the renters finally moved out, the owner let us i. It was like a house of horrors for two health inspectors. And I just CANNOT imagine living with them like that!

Back to composting! Every mild day, I have active gnats out in the bin. It hasn't yet been cold enough to completely stop the action.

Sally

Your story about the roaches reminds me of a story they tell about my aunt. Aunt Vicky was known to be rather "careful" with a time. That's an understatement but I'm trying to be nice. Anyway it has been said that everyone on the block had the roaches but her. One of the neighbors swore that the people that lived in the house before her had the roaches but within a week of Aunt Vicky moving in she saw them moving next door. Everyone was in agreement that it was because she was to cheap to even keep food in the house. I have to be honest I never did see her with a full fridge.

My only issue with foreigners in the compost is my son's dog. Sparkles figured out how to climb the slats and get in for a snack. I think she got the idea from the squirrels. Mine is still working too. As soon as it cools down I'll turn it. I can't believe how turning really works it. A few years ago I had a neighbor boy come and turn it by emptying it into two wheelbarrows. First one out was the first one back in. By the end of the month it was all usable! Adding all that air did wonders.