Am I doing this right?

I'm afraid I'm not making my compost pile right. I didn't have anything big enough so I just dug a big hole and started putting things in. Dirt, leaves, fruit and veggie peelings, coffee grounds, etc. I turn it with a shovel, but I'm not sure about it not being in a container of some kind. Also, can I put left over coffee, not just grounds.
Should I water it in dry spells? What about putting bark in it? Also, I hve cats, can I put the waste in there after I clean the litter box?
Well, as you can see, I know nothing, so HELP

Okay, I'll take a couple of your questions - DH is cooking tonight, so I might have to run at any given moment, lol!

This advice is *only* if you want a hot pile or at least an efficient one- anything you put in that hole will break down at some point - you could just put the dirt back on top and let it have at it!

-A hole is one way to do it - the only bad thing about that is that you'll have to turn it fairly regularly because it won't get any oxygen circulating through it from the sides.

-You can put coffee in as well as grounds, but I'd save that for acid loving plants - gardenias, roses, azaleas and rhododendrons - probably 50/50 with water. You want to keep your pile damp, not sopping or dripping. Your hole will help keep it moist and you'll probably get some very helpful worms in there with moisture. If your pile starts to smell or gather insects, you're too wet and you need to a) add some dry stuff and b) turn the pile and get some air in there.

Hi Lorraine,

I'll take a couple more -- I'm fairly new to composting too (I have just one hot pile under my belt, but it rose to 160 degrees in 1 day and made rough compost in 2 weeks!) and I'll take the plunge with some information I've learned.

--Don't put pet waste or pet litter in your compost. Too much bad stuff & potential for bad stuff in there. Throw it away.

--Bark will decompose eventually, but at a much much slower rate (ie years) than other stuff. I put it in the first pile I made and ended up fishing it out when the pile was done, because it was still bark. So now I don't try to compost it, but I also don't have a lot of it, so I don't need a strategy for doing so.

Later today or tomorrow I'll have access to a url I've found very helpful in getting a handle on composting, so I'll post it then.

Thanks Pagancat and Compost 101. I was just afraid that with dirt on all sides the good stuff from the compost would leech out into the dirt. Glad you told me about the kitty poop. I hadn't done it, but was already thinking.
I'm, afraid I don't know what "Hot compost" is. I've always had a small compost pile (usually in some kind of container, even a child's swimming pool with holes in it for air.and it does fine, but I never noticed if it was "hot" So, I guess I need to know what hot means.
Guess I need to get the gardening for dummies

Now, stop that! Like I said, the dumb ones are the ones bumbling around without asking anyone anything.

Here's that link:
aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/compost/chapter2.html

Put in different numbers for different chapters -- I think there are 5 or 6. Someone posted this url on this site awhile back, and I found it very helpful. It's a ton of info -- just what I needed as an enthusiastic newbie.

A hot compost pile is one that's temperature is raised above the ambient temp. because of all the organisms doing their composting work. Hot piles turn waste into compost much more quickly (in a matter of weeks for rough compost) than cold ones, though the actual process taking place in either pile is the same, I believe.

Hi all.

I am a new member and was just reading your comments on composting with interest and saw your above hyperlink. I just learned how to do the links so I will practice again with the above link. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/compost/chapter2.html

You got it!

Thanks pagancat,

I just returned from the library and checked out the book by Patricia Lanza on Lasagna Gardening. I am going to make a lasagna bed for my new daylily bed. I am so excited but I am not going to start till the leaves start falling. Got to have some of that Brown Gold in the bed for sure!!!

Wow, I went to the link and you're right, lots and lots of info. I'm starting a pile in the woods behind and on the side of my h ouse. I'll start it with leaves and a lot of the leaves are already composting because they've been there for so long. I figure if I get it started, I can pretty much leave it alone because of all the leaves falling and the rotted tree limbs from a long time ago.
Hope it works

Good luck to both of you. I started a compost bin last summer when I was freezing some fruits and vegetables to freeze for winter. There were so many peelings and cores that I hated to throw them away. I had never really thought much about composting until then. So, I started my big plastic trash can with green pepper innards and peach peels. That covered a good portion in the bottom of the can.

I began adding fruit and veggie scraps from kitchen along with a coffee filter full of ground beans each day. By the end of the summer it was evident that the trash can was not going to be big enough. My wonderful husband built a bin with cinderblock which gave us a lot more room to work with.

I am the woman who both sons favorite food is mashed potatoes and I never made them for them because I hated peeling potatoes. Well, since beginning to compost, I kind of look forward too making things that require peeled potatoes. I get a feeling of helping the earth or some feeling such as that. Everyone benefits from my compost.

I have to admit that we haven't kept up the turning over too consiously. It requires getting right down in to the inside of the bin. I have never tried turning but poor ole hubby gets that job too. I haven't yet used any of the mixture in the garden yet, but plan to next spring.

This particular bin is getting close to the top and we have decided to add some more cinder block to one side of it and begin a new compost pile soon. It has amazed me the amount of compostable (sp?) material that leaves my kitchen each day.

I have only put grass clippings on it a few times but try to remember to throw dead leaves and stems from dead plants in it. I was able to get a few other peoples leaves last fall to add and have decided this year to advertise on freecycle to pick up city dwellers leaves.

I have found composting to be quite rewarding. I never thought that I would be saying that, but it is really true. My sons are glad to have more mashed potatoes on the menu too.

I hope that all reading are having a good weekend and staying cool.

Ruby

Hi Ruby,

That was very encouraging. I want to start my lasagna bed right now but have to wait for the leaves to fall. Maybe you can post a picture of your compost bin to encourage the rest of us to get going.

That's great, Ruby - mashed taters are pretty much one of the food groups for me.... heh....

Hello - I found two pictures that I took of the compost bin a while back. Am going to try to post them here now.

Ruby

Another view.

Hi Ruby,

Thanks for the pictures. Looks like it is working.

Whew - thanks for posting the second one - all I could picture was Ruby, balancinh at the top of this huge wall of block, trying to stab into an 8 ft tall pile, lol.

How do you get it out when it's finished cooking?

That's what I was thinking too Pagancat! It's a great looking compost bin...but I'd suggest 3 sides instead of 4 and also leaving a small 1/2" gap between the bricks. I've been learning that air and moisture are the most critical needs for good compost. If dogs or such are problems as they are around my place, you can always put a pallet on the open side or build a small gate for it.

Wonderful suggestions Wolf. I will mention them to my hubby. I think that he is going out next week and purchase the cinderblock to add another bin beside this one. Maybe he will use your tip for next one. Hey, that would save on buying as many blocks too if spaces are left between some of them and doing away with a whole side.

Ha-ha, what would make you think that three mischevious dogs might be a problem? A couple of months ago, one of them was taking a running jump and getting over in to the bin. We moved the compost around a little bit and he didn't have good footing, so that antic was short lived, thankfully.

Anyway, we are always open for any suggestions. We are new gardeners, for the most part. I hope that every one will have a great weekend.

Ruby

*sigh*

I can relate - I have 4 mid size dogs who like to go through my pile, grr.... I try to think of it as aeration.

You have a good weekend, too!

Oh gee Pagancat. Sorry to hear that. I suppose that if Lucky had continued to get in to the enclosure, we would have had to eventually do something. As it is, we lucked out and he lost interest.

Ruby

S'okay - they all get apple cores and carrot ends for treats now!

We have one dog who will eat anything that is offered to him. He shows it too. He is overweight and sometimes is too lazy to beg. He lets the other two go to the person who has food, and he will lay and wait for us to give him his portion of the treat.

He came by the weight very honestly. As a six week old puppy when we got him, we named him Blue. Two reasons for the name. Number one reason is that he has one blue eye. The other is that he has always been a moper, oh woe is me kind of fella. We will sometimes call him Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh fame.

There has only been one thing that excites him and gets him moving at any speed faster than very sloooowwwww. My brother runs several head of cattle on adjoining land to our fenced in yard. Now, Blue will move like lightening when he sees the cows out the back door. He likes to chase them down the fence row that they have to pass to go to other area of land. At first the cows were frightened of the three loud dogs barking so ferociously. After a while it almost seemed like some of the younger cows thought of it as a game. The seemed to like to stir up the dogs. They would come to a certain spot where the dogs always began their barking tirade and would lay down and seem to be watching the back door for the dogs they knew would be coming out soon.

I haven't paid attention lately but I found it quite amusing when that little game was being played out a few months ago. It was like the cows came around at a certain time and would spend time lazing around, all the while keeping their eyes on the back door where any minute three bullet speed furry things would suddenly shoot out the door. The cows had finally realize that they were safe from whatever the dogs had to offer if they could have gotten through the fence. Aaaaahhhhh, life in the country. ha-ha

Well, thanks for letting me tell my doggie tale. They are all three very special to me and have served to help heal broken hearts and just all around serve as mood boosters due to their daily antics. Believe me, they are treated very well at this house.

Ruby

LOL - love the dog stories, my animals are everything to me, as they sound like they are to you.

I have always had dogs. I raised and showed Collies for a long time. I don't have any now, but somehow I ended up with 3 kittens. I nev er thought I liked cats, but I just love these three. I guess I can be called the "cat Lady" now.
I told my grandson I was going to end up with 90 cats and leave them all to him. He told me he's just set fire to the house.

Anyway, somehow a dog person became a cat person in her old age.

Ah, we're just animal people, I believe.... I have cats, dogs and horses.

Oh, what would we do without them?

Ruby

I'm not sure what I would do without mine. I live alone and it's a long story, but they've really been good for me. Funny how animals can feel how we feel. If I'm not feeling good, all three of them are in my lap or in the bed with me.

It's probably the only time you sit still enough for them to be sure of cuddles!

You are right. I also want to let you all know I finally fell into the mulch pile and what was really great was that it was right after I added manure. I was just turning and turning and lost my footing. I still feel like I have the stuff all over me. Anyway, I will be more careful, I bet.

Oh no Lorraine. Yucky. I know exactly what you mean about still feeling as though you have it all over you. It is like finding one tick and then imagining lots more are one you.

Ruby

>scratch, scratch<
...

Smackum!!!! Oh, don't worry pagancat, I was swatting at that fly on your nose. Sorry.

Ruby

I'd like to share a little composting story with you all. I've composted most of my adult life, everything from the beautiful soup tureen on the kitchen counter, (just didn't hold enough), to the 2' x 2' x 2' plastic tote bin for red wigglers right out in plain sight in the kitchen. Most of my family thought,....... think I am nuts. But everyone who commented got my version of why I do it.

For some, it sunk in. A couple of weeks ago I visited by niece, now a stay at home mother of four, she was finishing up peeling a bushel of apples and going to dispose of the peels. Where are you going? Why , I'm going to put them in my compost bin. Her "bin" is 5' x 5', enclosed on three sides and open in the front for deer to browse. Can you just picture me smiling? I feel so blessed to have positively influenced the next generation of gardeners. Her young son explained to me that her hosta all looked kinda raggedy because the mama deer had chewed off all the tops, but had twin fawns to feed so they weren't allowed to chase her away.

Awwww.... what a great story. With frosting.

I agree, great story.

Ruby