Start-up composting question

I want to get started composting and I have been reading through the forums and the wed on this. I have a 5gal bucket of produce scraps and 2 5gal buckets of leaves to get me started. I really don't have the money or space set aside yet this year to start a permanent structure and it makes sense to me to sort of give it a good try maybe first anyway.

Unanswered questions:
Can I through in grain products like bread, pasta, rice etc?

I have an old broken plastic wheel barrow that the garbage pick-up wouldn't take with a big split down the bottom of basin. Could I set that up in the back corner of my property for now and use it for a temporary (maybe a year) structure for composting? It has drainage from the split. Would it get enough air if I turn it weekly since it's wider than it is deep?

I need to cover this to keep the moisture out right? If so, can I use an old piece of tile board I have laying around? I'm not sure what types of materials are in the tile board or if they would leach in and be harmful in my compost.

Last thing for now, I've been tossing in a few dinner napkins and paper towels with my food scraps. Are these ok?


Thanks.

pasta, rice, bread are food scraps, toss them in. No meat or fat scraps though. Paper towels and napkins are ok, just don't add too many. Coffee and tea grounds, peelings, vegetable scraps, fruit rinds.

The wheel barrow sounds like a good idea. You could turn that with a short spade or a forked spade. I would not cover it. It needs a certain amount of moisture. The wheel barrow has a split down the middle, that will keep excess water from standing. I think the wheel barrow is a good idea. If it doesn't work out , you can always plant flowers or lettuce in it.

Great. Hopefully being in the wheel barrow will detour my dog, kids and the local rabbits and vermin too. If not, I might make a chicken wire top for it.

Thanks for answering my questions. I'm sure in a few weeks after I've gotten this going I'll have more.

Only knowing how dry it was in AZ, you might want to to think about adding a cover of some sort to your wheel barrow - between the drought, how direct your sunlight is, and how open a barrow typically is, it will dry up in no time, unless you are in a part of CO that is getting more rain than Denver. I'm not familiar with Littleton - is it considered high desert or is it out of that range?

Littleton is just 20min south of Denver. So yes, it's pretty dry here especially Nov-Feb. So I was thinking of putting the cover on to keep it from getting wet, but your suggesting to actually cover it to keep some moisture in. Good point. Should I wet it down occasionally if it's looking pretty dry then?

Yeah - it's probably the larger challenge of composting in the west. A lot of things contain their own moisture - coffee grounds, fruits and vegetables, etc., but the drier the matter you put in there, the more that it's needed. I often would pour some water over whatever I was putting in the pile, if you carry it out in a bowl or something.

You might have a problem with too much moisture when it's snowing, but other than that... mmmm, I can't see it! Do you get monsoon rains there?

Not often really. About 1 or 2 times in the summer I have a river running down both sides of my yard out to the street. You have a dirty mind! :) That would be disgusting.

Ooops - ya lost me on that one....>?

if there's a big bowl in the sink to wash, i may add any glass dumpings, plate rinsings, to the scraps, etc like pagancat said , get more moisture in the compost that way. time of year now for me to put a covered bucket on the deck to collect more. i have done well with a board over the pile, seems like we need to conserve moisture usualyy, even here on east coast.

Sorry Pagancat,

I thought you were suggesting the compost would run out with the rain all over my yard. I was trying to be funny with my comment about you having a "dirty" mind.... dirty compost everywhere... sorry, joking is hard to do without facial expressions I guess.

Ok, well I'll have my husband round something up for a lid for me that will be light enough for me to manage on my own.

Thanks again for all the help.

Idea for cover. Dollar Tree sells those plastic table covers. You know, the plastic cover that goes over the tablecloth to keep it clean. Now that would light , and it would keep out the rain. It's also plastic, and would help heat up the pile. You could weigh it down with a few stones, and it should work quite well.

Great idea. I've never heard of Dollar Tree, but I'll look around here and see what I can find.

What no Dollar Trees? I'd be lost. ha ha. Check Wamart, you may want to pick a couple of those cheap shower curtain liners. They cost a few bucks, but are durable. The clear ones are nice. You can even cover a small cold frame with them to keep the frost off of tender plants. But, yeah, the shower liners would work good too, so would the flannel backed table cloths. They sell for a dollar as well at the Dollar Tree. I throw them over tender herbs at night to ward off the chill.

LOL - s'okay, k - I am not always the sharpest tool in the shed .... I figured 'dirty mind' was a composting dig, but I knew I better get the dirt on it so I wouldn't end up with mud on my face....!


Did ya get those? Huh? Huh?

>ducking and running...<
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