offensive odors?

Hi, I want to start a compost bin, but my hubby is afraid of the odor that may be emitted. Is there going to be an offensive smell?? Will it attract bugs, mice, etc? I will be primarily composting leaves, weeds (not gone to seed) and kitchen scraps. I have tried to read up on the subject, have read through lots of posts on this forum. All I found out is someone had maggots in their compost pile. That would be enough for hubby to say "NO". I would rather make my own than buy it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks, julie

dignbloom the no.1 rule is no meat (animal parts or fat) only vegetative (organic) materal for a no smell compost pile and you will not attract rats, mice, or snakes. As the pile heats up when microbes break down the vegetation it helps to turn the pile over. This will speed up the process. It will take some time to be ready to use, microbes work slow even though they are not union. LOL

LOL, thanks Greenwood. I also picked up some books on the subject at the library today. Julie

Julie we made out first compost bin about two weeks ago. First in this country I mean :-) We got 12 pallets and made three bins out of them - side by side. The third bin was without a front so that we can fork compost into it to turn it over easily and then place it back in it's original bin. Then put chicken wire on the top and chicken wire at the bottom!! I am so happy with them!! Good advice from Greenwood!! Just make sure you wet it down now and again and do a sort of lasagna method!! I first put in some twigs and branches cut up, then a layer of grass, then veg peelings, then sprinkled some soil over the lot. You can use paper, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells - just about anything except food!! Then put grass on this and start all over again.

thanks Louisa

Julie
Greenwood and Lousia have just about covered everything.
Keep your greens and browns in the correct ratios, 3 parts brown to 1 part green and turn on a regular basis you will have no ordor at all.

Paul

Julie
Greenwood and Lousia have just about covered everything.
Keep your greens and browns in the correct ratios, 3 parts brown to 1 part green and turn on a regular basis you will have no odor at all.

Paul

thank you all for the great information. I will starting a pile this fall - so I'll have enough to start with.

wow i do mine all wrong.I made mine out of cement blocks. i just throw anything in it meat, bones, vegies, whatever is scraped off the dinner plate that the dog can't have and all the yard waste and let it sit. when it gets full i start another one when that gets full i just use the other one and this goes on for about 6 years then i chean off the top sift out whats ready and start again

We have a compost we make from an old plastic garbage can - it worked for one month, but then we started to get a lot of flies and maggots - it was so bad, I was afraid to open it - We did not use any meat - just organic and coffee grinds - is the maggots and flies a normal thing to expect with composting? Or should I use a different container or do something differently - I like it because my plants do excellently when we add compost.

Annie
If you don't use the correct ratios of green and browns the pile won't "heat up". When this happens flys will lay eggs; hence the maggots,

Drill holes in the can for ventaltion, use the correct ratios of green and browns, and turn the pile every couple of days. One last thing make sure the pile is not too wet, it should be the consisty of a wrung out sponge.
Keep us posted on how it goes.

Paul