Composting!

[Daox]

Share with us your composting setups and any tips or tricks you have!

I'll be putting mine together next year I think in spring and ideas are welcome. I was thinking a hot composter probably in a barrel style would be better to get usable compost faster.

[truckncycle]

I have a plastic compost bin that I bought. It's full but not doing much. I almost never turn it and I need to add moisture too it. I looked into a compost tumbler but they were too expensive. Our city now gives away compost bins for free. They take old plastic garbage cans cut off the bottoms and add holes.

[TimJFowler]

My set-up is a 4-pallet bin with a hinged mesh top. The front slides out and then I fork out the compost to turn it or use it. I would go with something cheap, simple and at least 1 cubic yard of volume. Here is my setup - Composting in the High Desert | EcoDaddyo.com.

The secret to fast composting is to turn it often and keep a good balance of greens and browns (nitrogen and carbon-heavy stuff). There's not much to it than that unless you're a microbiologist or greatly interested in soil critters.

Tim

[Daox]

That looks like a nice setup Tim. How long does it take to churn out good compost?

[TimJFowler]

I pull out 2-3 wheelbarrow loads of compost about twice a year. I'm pretty lazy about turning my compost and that usually happens about 4 times a year. So, I could have more compost if I put a little more effort into it.

Unfortunately, we had wasps build a nest in the compost this summer and I haven't turned it in a while! I'm waiting for the wasps to go dormant this winter and then I will forcibly evict them. After I get rid of the wasps I'll have to write up the whole saga.

Tim

[Higgy]

Nice! I like it.

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by TimJFowler

I pull out 2-3 wheelbarrow loads of compost about twice a year. I'm pretty lazy about turning my compost and that usually happens about 4 times a year. So, I could have more compost if I put a little more effort into it.

Unfortunately, we had wasps build a nest in the compost this summer and I haven't turned it in a while! I'm waiting for the wasps to go dormant this winter and then I will forcibly evict them. After I get rid of the wasps I'll have to write up the whole saga.

Tim

Can't trust those wasps!

[TimJFowler]

We have foreclosed on the wasps (insects, not white anglo-saxon protestants)! It was a pain in the rear for months, but the wasp nest is gone.

Here's the saga - Foreclosing on the Wasps | EcoDaddyo.com

"Social" insects? My @$$!

Tim

[Ryland]

I would like to do a 4 pallet system as well, our current pile is a piece of wire fence made in to a ring to keep the pile more pile like and it's over flowing already after only 5 months, I would like something that will keep it hotter and be easier to work with but a cube, or maybe even two cubes seem like a good plan for now.

[Sandcruiser]

I made a bin using two walls of cinder blocks (scavenged from a junk pile), one sheet of corrugated steel (leftover) and a pallet in the middle as a divider. I haven't put a front on it yet. Size is about 3ft tall by about 5 feet wide by whatever a pallet is deep (about 3 feet?). I stacked the cinder block so that they are staggered, which allows some air to get in. I should perforate the steel, but haven't yet.
As it gets full I'll find a solution for the front, but so far it isn't giving me much trouble and allows me to turn the pile more easily. I just leave a fork out there and when I add kitchen scraps every day or two, I turn the pile a little bit. It breaks things down FAST...