A couple of newbie questions

Well I started using a plain old plastic bucket for kitchen scraps thinking that it would do until I got something better. It seems to work fine though so I'll stick with it for now. I empty it once a day and I haven't had any trouble with smells or bugs or anything.

My pile outside is growing bigger and bigger so I'm excited. I'm having some trouble keeping it damp -- it's so hot here that it dries out. But I'm thinking that as it gets bigger the inner portions will hold the moisture. I also have cardboard and newspaper in it and they should hold moisture too.

I wish I had something to contain the pile. As it is I have to stack new additions carefully or I'll end up with a very big, one layer pile which won't do me any good whatsoever! I don't have a good solution to that yet....

I wonder when I should turn it or mix it up....

-- Vicky

Vicky, you can get a couple of pallets and stand them up so additions to your pile will stay between them.

You can turn it as often as you wish, at the least about every three weeks. -OR-if you want it to take its own good time, you don't even have to turn it at all.

Kenton and Sofer,

You two ARE nuts!

Good luck biodegrading those beer caps. Do your piles really get hot enough to degrade metal?

xxxxx, Carrie

Dave47 wrote:
"Compost piles don't smell if they get enough oxygen, correct? (mine never does)."

I have a compost pile that I started in early June. It smells earthy if I get right on top of it, and especially when I turn it, but the aroma subsides pretty quickly. I don't put any meat or dairy waste on it (to keep critters down). Even after I added a small amount of pretty well broken down horse manure this past Saturday, it didn't smell.

Well Carrie you must know that is the secrete to my garden. Aluminum, I use it in all the beds and all the sub soil, and all the plantings. I even use it when I mow the lawn. Aluminum. That's it.
No one know the value of aluminum in gardening. I discovered it many years ago when I would go out with my guy friends and we would drive around and around looking for girls in the wide open spaces of Michigan. None to be found. So suddenly we stopped at a place that sold aluminum cans and since that time I have been a motivated citizen of the Great US. Yes Aluminum

OMG Steve, you stuffed a poor little squirrel and set this up just to get a fantastic photo? You devil you! LOL



Was the little guy able to make it back up his tree?

Squirrels, elk, foxes, plants, compost piles, grass, snakes, worms........ all need aluminum to complete the next phase of living, pleasure. This secret is unknown to many who chose not to hunt and play cards. Just enlightening you to the unknown facts. I have a video of a beer delivery man in Alaska fighting a grizzley bear for a can of beer. Kick boxing, stick throwing, punches and by both bear and man. He finally tricks the griz into looking the other way and steals the beer. His next line is: "you dont know how difficult it is to bring you the best in beer" LOL

Wow, Steve, just because I never liked beer, I've missed out on all the beneficial effects of Al! Well, you've changed all that for me. I'm going to go through our city-provided recycling bin (which is picked up for free every week) and pull out all the aluminum. I' m starting a compost pile right here, right now. An old tree branch and some selzer cans oughta do the trick! Does aluminum count as a green or a brown?

xxxxx, Carrie

Well I never thought of it as the can but what was in the can leached out the valuable nutrients of Al and provided all the miracles of nature. Hmmmm compost the empty can. Now where did I last throw that six pack of empties? You are thinking way a "head" of me.

heh, heh, heh.

http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/t/Soferdig/3149/
Brewskies count as green. -After a few hours and if you are a male.

Cute, James. :)

We of course discourage drinking excessivly and the above hyperlink was simply for the entertainment of a process of boring dimentions. I ask that you see it as only that and disregard any insinuations that this is a proper way to garden and compost. As the author I understand the few who might be offended by its content. The author would like to ask those who are, to forgive me, for such content. I also.................................. Signed Soferdig. (My disclaimer)
Now on to composting. I have a question on what to do when I have used up all of my readied compost. How do I make compost tea for my house plants? Can I use the black stuff in the cooking pile? Just a new picture of cooking compost.

I wouldn't use cooking stuff, it is pretty unstable.
I disclaim nothing and take responsability for momentary obcenity. Near-vulgar but true is the abovementioned compost detail.

Okay I'm back with a little report. My compost pile has grown through the summer -- it's actually a decent sized pile now. I just splurged on a pitch fork type tool to turn it and give it some air -- it really needed that as it's been compacting since I started. I tried to do it with a shovel but it was tough on the back!

So now I have another question. I took a little test on a Florida composting web site that evaluates the contents of your compost. My results said I need more brown stuff. My primary contents are all kinds of kitchen stuff -- peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc., some paper and cardboard that I rip up and plant trimmings. I try to cut up the plant trimmings but sometimes it's hard on the hand since I have to use a hand pruner. Can anyone suggest what stuff I'm short on? Or how I can better balance my pile? There is black stuff on the bottom of the pile -- yeah! So is my black stuff no good? All help appreciated!!!

-- Vicky

To start a list: Brown stuff =
dryer lint
shredded newspapers and mail
dried leaves and grass
pine needles

anybody else???

Seaweed????

vcb1 - if your pile is composting and not smelling - I would ignore the quiz and keep doing what you are doing...

Thanks all! If seaweed and leaves and grass are brown, then aren't plant trimmings too? I could get tons of seaweed -- all I need to do is walk up the street and carry it back! Do you need to rinse it off? To get some of the salt off?

joepyeweed, it's not smelly at all so I guess I'm on the right track!

-- Vicky

Green things tend to be green, like grass clippings and FRESH seaweed. I have read that you should rinse the salt off, but it does not contain harmful amoutns of salt.
I'm using lots of office shred right now for brown until the tree trimemrs drop off a ton of wood pulp.

The black stuff is the layer in slosest contact (and benefit) from soil organisms, who are all very good at decomposing. I'd mix it into the rest of your pile next time you use your new turnign fork. Making it not hurt your back just takes concious effort and experience of what to add and what not to.

Forget the quiz, like abovesaid, and follow your nose.
Kenton

Whee, I had a hunch about that seaweed, I'm so thrilled I wasn't that far off! I just found out there's a free compost program in Boston for community gardens. NNow all i have to do is convince them that my backyard is a Community Garden in Boston, LOL LOL LOL!

xxxxx, Carrie