Author Topic: Composting in small areas  (Read 4600 times)

Larabeth

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Composting in small areas
« on: March 14, 2016, 12:21:37 PM »
We don't have room for a full sized compost pile... Does anyone compost on a small scale? I've been thinking about using a plastic bucket... Don't want to drop $100 on a fancy bin until things have evened out some. Any suggestions?

thd7t

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2016, 12:24:17 PM »
We don't have room for a full sized compost pile... Does anyone compost on a small scale? I've been thinking about using a plastic bucket... Don't want to drop $100 on a fancy bin until things have evened out some. Any suggestions?
Do you have yard space?  I use an enclosure made of hardware cloth (wire mesh).  Very cheap and it can scale as you want it to, but it has no bottom.

o2bfree

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2016, 12:53:36 PM »
You could find a container of the appropriate size at a thrift store. We use a big Tupperware container that we used in the past to soak our dive gear. I drilled holes in the sides for air circulation. Also drilled holes in the bottom, and the worms found their way in making it a combo compost/worm bin. When I turn the stuff, there are gobs and gobs of worms loving life in there.

Hardware cloth enclosures work well, too. If you have the space, you can build a 3-sided enclosure using pallets (find them scrapped near shipping/receiving areas). Line it with the hardware cloth to keep the compost in.

One lesson I learned with bottomless piles is that if you put them near trees or shrubs, the roots of those guys like to grow up into the pile, making it difficult to scoop out when it's ready to put in the garden.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2016, 01:26:32 PM by o2bfree »

GorgeousSteak

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2016, 01:05:52 PM »
You can go the vermicomposting route like this:  http://www.arbico-organics.com/product/3053/composting-supplies?gclid=CIWTnv_uwMsCFQMQaQodP38GjQ.  I will say, I had one like that for a while when i lived in a condo.  I could not get it efficient enough to keep up with all our compost though (2 adults).  So you'd either have to be better at it than I was, or get more of them, or look for a slightly different system than that.

ooeei

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2016, 01:54:06 PM »
You can go the vermicomposting route like this:  http://www.arbico-organics.com/product/3053/composting-supplies?gclid=CIWTnv_uwMsCFQMQaQodP38GjQ.  I will say, I had one like that for a while when i lived in a condo.  I could not get it efficient enough to keep up with all our compost though (2 adults).  So you'd either have to be better at it than I was, or get more of them, or look for a slightly different system than that.

I have a worm bin made out of a Rubbermaid container.  It doesn't take care of all of our food waste (2 people), but it's enough to fertilize a few peppers and tomatoes in the summer.

herbgeek

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2016, 02:29:35 PM »
For small amounts, I just dig a hole in my garden and deposit right there.  I tend to do this off season, so that when I go to plant, its all been digested.

BudgetSlasher

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2016, 05:47:14 PM »
What are you considering a the size of a "full sized" compost pile? And how little space are you using?

We inherited a tumble composter, which is great at getting thing done a little quicker, but we also use a few basic rubber maid trashcans and lids. Heck there is a worm composter on the local craigslist for $35 right now.

Scandium

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2016, 04:33:31 AM »
I don't understand the point of composting, as I don't pay any more for more trash. Just free fertilizer?

VAR

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #8 on: March 16, 2016, 05:00:59 AM »
I used to live in an apartment with a patio. I bought those big metal old timey washtubs (lowes/homedepot/somtimes walmart). I used them for container gardening. For a certain amount I could just dig into my container garden and plant my compost so to speak.
There was also an edging of woods around the complex, so I "guerrilla" composted sometimes too by quickly digging into the leaf mold around the edges and planting my compost there too.
Now I'm composting into some holes left by stump removal from the yard...so I still don't have a traditional "pile"

kite

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2016, 05:23:43 AM »
I don't understand the point of composting, as I don't pay any more for more trash. Just free fertilizer?

We compost all of our food scraps.  With no decaying organic matter in the trash, our garbage doesn't stink, ever.  It's only composed of plastic wrappers that we haven't found some other way to recycle, and the occasional worn out shoe.  We could go a year before filling our 40 gallon trash can.

Yes, all food scraps.  It's a hot composter, and it breaks down even animal carcasses without drawing rodents.

The point is to keep nutrient rich material out of landfills, where it won't ever do anyone any good.  To provide free soil ammendment so  (not exactly fertilizer, but close)).  And because I'm both lazy and cheap.  I'm too lazy to haul trash to the curb for pick up each week.  And I'm too cheap to buy garbage bags. 

dude

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Re: Composting in small areas
« Reply #10 on: March 16, 2016, 06:33:06 AM »
For small amounts, I just dig a hole in my garden and deposit right there.  I tend to do this off season, so that when I go to plant, its all been digested.

My in-laws do the same (they are pretty meticulous about cutting all the scraps up first with a pair of kitchen shears), and it also results in the spontaneous growth of crops from the composted materials, such as tomato and squash plants.  One year, the didn't plant a single tomato plant, but wound up with a dozen of them that bore copious amounts of fruit.  It was pretty amazing.

My city subsidizes the Earth Machine compost bin, which retails for around $100, for only $25 for its residents.  I've had mine for 6-7 years now.  I compost a lot of stuff and use the compost to fertilize my gardens each year.  It sits in a small corner of our backyard.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!