Composting

[iamsoners]

What do you all use for composting?  I have been longing for one of those fancy elevated double barrel jigs but at $300 it's not the mustchian answer.  My main concern is that my neighborhood has a serious possum problem (!!) and so I want something critter proof.  And I'm a renter so it's got to be something that can go away easily.  What awesome solutions have you all come up with?

[nubbs180]

I'm not sure if this would fit your needs, but when I have the space and time, it's the compost tumbler design I'm planning to use.

http://dixiegrilling.com/tumbler.htm

And here's a video if you'd like to get a 3D view of it, and an explanation of features.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfi-bSs6EQ0

Hope that helps!

[atelierk]

I live in an outer suburban/rural location with woods, fields, and wetlands close by. Wildlife including possums are in the area but I've never seen any sign of them bothering my compost bins. Yard waste, tree trimmings, eggshells, paper towels, veggie trimmings, and grass clippings don't hold much appeal - I've never seen 'coons or skunks, either. Occasionally, I've seen crows picking at the pile but they don't find much of interest so don't hang around. Actually, I take a live and let live attitude toward wildlife anyway; if a possum checks out my pile once in awhile, I don't care. He's not doing any harm. People get all worked up over wildlife and bugs for no reason most of the time; I think it's a general symptom of a society afflicted with nature deficit disorder.

Most omnivores (wild or domesticated) would be looking for animal protein but I never include meat scraps, bones, grease or dairy so there's no smell, no flies, no critters. Herbivores have no interest in decaying plant material so they're not interested either.

I'm a very casual composter. This property doesn't generate enough waste at any one time for me to build a "hot" compost pile, so I just pile stuff up and let nature do its thing. My compost bins are made from pallets, lined with scrap chicken wire, leveled and held together with a few screws and nails. Essentially free. I never turn my pile, but when I want the finished compost at the bottom, I take the top rough stuff off and pile it in the bin beside it. Right now I have two bins but want to add a third one to the pair. I will be building some easily removed front panels out of more scrap wood and chicken wire just to contain the stuff more neatly.

[clarkai]

Don't include any rich sources of protein and you shouldn't have a problem with vermin. So, no dairy, eggs, meat, meat bones, and probably to be safe stay away from cooked beans too.

[Jamesqf]

Mine's probably the ultimate: just a pile.  Of course it runs about 40 feet long (depending on season) as I have a fairly large place.  Everything gets turned over several times as it moves from tail to head in steps of 6 feet or so.

Don't have possums hereabouts, but never had any critter problems.

[darkelenchus]

We live in a neighborhood just outside downtown, though you'll see possums, groundhogs, and racoons running around every once in awhile. We picked up a 32 gallon storage bin, drilled some holes in the side and on the lid so the pile could get enough oxygen, and drilled some holes on the bottom so that liquid drains out and so that worms can make their way into the pile (accelerates the composting process). One drawback compared to a tumbler, obviously, is that it's a bit more work to turn the pile. But it's not that much of a pain in the ass... All you need is a hand tiller, a tiny bit of muscle, and about a minute to spare.

It's tucked away by our garage, and blends right in with the garbage cans, so it's not an added eyesore (or an eyesore at all, really). Also, since it's just a storage bin, it won't break the bank and can certainly "go away easily" if you need it to. We've never had any problems with possums or other wild animals in the neighborhood even snooping around. It's essentially unsuspecting, and they're distracted by the bigger, juicer heaps of trash in dumpsters, anyway.

[Bakari]

We rarely get large creatures, although a raccoon did come inside my house once.  There are rats living out in the back area, and lots of cats and dogs around.
I use a big generic plastic bin.  Put a lid on top, put a plank of wood on that, put a cinder block on the top, nothing has ever gotten in.
I put everything in, processed food, dairy, citrus, whatever is biological but not edible (we're vegetarian, so no meat to go in anyway) even though they say not to feed worms certain things (like all of that) and it all disappears and turns into delicious compost.

I put exactly zero thought or effort into moisture, temperature, carbon balance, turning it; but the worms (and other small life) are always in there, living their little worm and insect and crustacean lives, all year round.
The one thing I do is always bury the new food scraps an inch or two under the existing soil, which keeps out flys and smell.

[igthebold]

I have a tumbler. My main problem is getting enough “brown” (carbon-heavy) materials in it to balance out the “green” (nitrogen-heavy). Kitchen scraps and food are the “green” but I don't really have leaves and dead stuff to speak of. Thus, I have a slight smell problem. However, I should be able to get leaves from the woods easily enough, but it's more effort than simply throwing stuff away.

However, it's definitely worth it. You blow through a year's worth of kitchen scraps in most any garden pretty fast, and you're not filling up the landfill with it.

[BenDarDunDat]

What do you all use for composting?  I have been longing for one of those fancy elevated double barrel jigs but at $300 it's not the mustchian answer.  My main concern is that my neighborhood has a serious possum problem (!!) and so I want something critter proof.  And I'm a renter so it's got to be something that can go away easily.  What awesome solutions have you all come up with?

I got a free plastic barrel and cut a square out of both ends, and then added holes for air. It keeps out the possums. However, I don't like the pack of flies that hover over it. It can smell seriously smell when I add spent grains. It's not exactly attractive. 

[Nancy]

I received a free compost bin from the city where I live. Check if your town has such a program. If not, there are tons of compost bins for sale online, at Costco, or Home Depot for far less than $300. Just make sure the bin has holes for air ventilation! I prefer the compost bin with the bottom open (compost pile is directly on the grass) so worms come up into the bin from the soil (obviously an open bottom bin wouldn't work for you if you have a heavy metal problem in your soil). I have never had a problem with animals trying to get in, but I agree with the no meat rule. Also, I say no eggs, since you'd have to wash them with soap and water or bake them in the oven to kill possible salmonella (unless your compost pile gets really hot), and then you'd have to crush them up really well. My friend inherited a compost bin when she bought her house, and three years later, the egg shells from the prior owner are still intact.

http://earth911.com/news/2010/12/01/ask-the-editor-are-eggshells-really-compostable/

[sol]

Our city accepts all types of food waste in our yard waste bins, and composts it all centrally.  Coffee grounds, meat and bones, eggshells, whatever moldy leftovers you have, it all gets dumped in with the grass clippings and leaves and hauled away every two weeks.

Between that and a comprehensive recycling program, our 4-person household generates very little regular trash, less than 20 gallons per week.  Our single biggest garbage item is dog poop from the yard.

[atelierk]

I have a tumbler. My main problem is getting enough “brown” (carbon-heavy) materials in it to balance out the “green” (nitrogen-heavy). Kitchen scraps and food are the “green” but I don't really have leaves and dead stuff to speak of. Thus, I have a slight smell problem. However, I should be able to get leaves from the woods easily enough, but it's more effort than simply throwing stuff away.

However, it's definitely worth it. You blow through a year's worth of kitchen scraps in most any garden pretty fast, and you're not filling up the landfill with it.

You can also compost paper, which counts as a "brown". Paper egg cartons, berry boxes, paper towel and toilet paper tubes, shredded newspaper (not the glossy stuff), paper towels/napkins, cardboard, even office paper.

[kudy]

I use the heap method.  It gets "hot" and composts nicely and quickly in the spring (when I start to add grass clippings), and the fall (when I start to add dead leaves) - these are also the times that I turn it the most.  In the dead of winter and the middle of summer it isn't as active, but can still compost a bit when moist.  The bottom layers also seem to get a large number of worms visiting from the ground, so the chemical reaction isn't the only thing helping my pile become rich soil!

Anecdotal snippet: people I know who use the spinning barrels end up waiting 2-3 times longer than I do for results - but they may have a different mix of materials going into their barrels.

[Alfredya]

This reminds me of my childhood. We had a garden when I lived at my parents and we also did composting there. But I wonder if my parents cared what they put into it.. because it seems to be a kind of a rocket science haha* ;)

[Gerard]

Mine's probably the ultimate: just a pile.

Mine too, at the far end of the yard just where the shrubby stuff starts. I dump yard waste right on top, but kitchen scraps get tucked underneath so they don't look/smell funky. From more than a few feet away, it looks much like the rest of the back of the yard. I change the location about once a year, and dump the composted stuff into my vegetable bed.
I agree with the suggestion to add paper stuff if you have too few "browns" -- my big-city brother composts used tissues, but I'm not that hardcore. If you have too many browns, you can balance things out with what BBC garden personality Bob Flowerdew (his real name!) euphemistically calls "recycled beer".

[fidgiegirl]

I have a tumbler. My main problem is getting enough “brown” (carbon-heavy) materials in it to balance out the “green” (nitrogen-heavy). Kitchen scraps and food are the “green” but I don't really have leaves and dead stuff to speak of.

I use shredded paper sometimes for my "brown," and ripped up egg cartons, paper plates when we (rarely) use them, kleenexes, etc.

[Uncephalized]

I made a couple of circular "bins" out of hardware cloth/rat wire (I think the 1/2" size). To get whatever diameter you want just cut the cloth to a length if Diameter*pi, plus a few inches for overlap, then roll it into a circle, wire the ends together with some bailing wire, and put it where you want it. You can put stakes in (rebar or wood) to make it harder to knock over. it won't keep out raccoons or any determined scavengers though. Just add more bins when you run out of space.

[iamsoners]

Just as an update to this, here's what I decided to do.  Got a black plastic rolling trash can with a snap on lid at a garage sale for $2.  Drilled holes all over the trash can to let air in.  And now I'm adding composting materials in layers of food, leaves, food, leaves.  I can't say how successful it will be at turning out compost but so far, so good at keeping critters away.

[wiferkhart]

Have any of you looked into red worm composting?

We live in a 2nd story condo and have 2 worm bins out (big tupperware-like storage containers) on our balcony.  The worms keep up with all of the trimmings/food waste (including egg shells, excluding meat and dairy) as well as shredded paper and cardboard.  We keep them loosely covered so smells and flies aren't too big of an issue.  No need to turn the piles either.

All of the "dirt" for our container garden comes from what the worms produce.

[happy]

I use a Bokashi bin for food scraps . www.bokashi.com.au

[H.D. McQuack]

I have a pile in the yard, that's it. I cover recent additions with extra leaves or dried grass clippings or hay or something "brown." This prevents smells and generally animals don't mess with it. If possum are an issue, I've heard of building a simple frame from 2x4s and chicken wire to keep everything out. I put in everything that can theoretically be composted, except for one thing:

The one thing which would make the compost pile the most amazingly mustachian pile ever:

humanurehandbook.com/instructions.html

still convincing the wife on this one

[MsGuided]

Just as an update to this, here's what I decided to do.  Got a black plastic rolling trash can with a snap on lid at a garage sale for $2.  Drilled holes all over the trash can to let air in.  And now I'm adding composting materials in layers of food, leaves, food, leaves.  I can't say how successful it will be at turning out compost but so far, so good at keeping critters away.

Like this idea.  It seems practical for my situation.  Wondering how it's going a few months in?  Have you turned it?  If so, did you just use a shovel?  The one composter I had was a high priced black plastic facsimile of your trash can.  We did eventually get some lovely black gold, but I broke it using the shovel so much.  I want to start a new composter, but dont' want to spend a lot of $ & am intimidated by all the building plans I've seen.

[iamsoners]

Things are going well with the compost although have taken an unexpected turn.  We got maggots.  Serious maggots.  Tons and tons of them.  You can hear them as you approach the pile.  I was initially appalled but after some cursory internet research, this seems ok (http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/article/Yucky-but-useful-Maggots-make-compost-3275776.php). 

Actually beyond ok.  I can add anything I want and they turn it into black gold pretty dang quickly.  I don't have to worry as much about the moisture level, or letting one batch cook while I add stuff to another batch, and I can add citrus, meat, eggs, EVERYTHING gets broken down. 

So, I've conciously chosen to just not be grossed out by it and embrace the maggots.  There haven't been tons of flies because of it.  And my rodent concerns have thus far been unfounded.

I'm a little sad that my maggots will die when it gets colder and I'll have to be more serious about the compost pile.  I suppose that at that point, I'll take the current compost out and distribute it and start a new batch.

[anastrophe]

Maggots are fine. It's slime that you don't want--slime and horrid smells are the sign of too-anaerobic compost. But maggots, they just eat and turn into something and then fly off, they're a good sign IMO.

I live in a semi-urban area and we have a black plastic composter that is given by the state DEP. The only critters I have a problem with are squirrels--we do have other critters around but they don't care, I never see a rat or raccoon or chipmunk trying to break in, just grey squirrels.

[JR]

I have a tumbler. My main problem is getting enough “brown” (carbon-heavy) materials in it to balance out the “green” (nitrogen-heavy). Kitchen scraps and food are the “green” but I don't really have leaves and dead stuff to speak of.

Any farms nearby?  I bought a big bale of straw from a local farm for $4 and use that as my brown material.

[Nords]

We've been composting and vermiposting (separate containers) for over a decade, but it's pretty easy in this climate. 

I've learned that there's just no reliable way to compost tomato seeds or papaya seeds, and they don't vermipost either.  Right now I'm experimenting with freezing the papaya seeds for a week or two before throwing them in the compost pile, but the proof of the experiment will be when we actually spread the compost.

And my rodent concerns have thus far been unfounded.

Hunh.  We use the little guys to aerate our pile...

[Tom Reingold]

I just toss stuff in a heap. I keep a tarp over it to keep the moisture in. I don't churn it often. When I do, I mix in leaves and whatever other clippings I can find.

The worms and other critters do inhabit the heap. Worms prefer the leaves fallen into our bamboo grove, so I toss in bamboo leaves more than anything else. The bamboo is right next to the compost heap.