Do you compost? What kind of container do you use?

Yes, I love composting and compost. I have three bins that are each about 3' x 3', which is about as small as you can go and still get good composting action. I use wire bins purchased from Gardeners' Supply Co.

I breathe, therefore I compost! My first composter was a metal cage thingie. Worked great for putting stuff in and turning it but getting anything out was darn near impossible. When I moved to my current house, I bought a black plastic composter from Home Depot. I figured the black would absorb heat and speed the process and the little hatches at the bottom would make it easier to get the finished produce out. Right on both counts! But it is narrow and makes turning difficult, so I compost passively. I put stuff in the top for a year, the middle cooks for the next year, and I "harvest" the third year from the bottom, so it is in continuous rotation. Even though it has vents, I leave the top off because not enough moisture gets in. When we are in a drought, I will water my composter as well as my gardens. I compost everything short of meats, fats and bones. As you can no doubt tell, this is a subject dear to my heart. I tend to go on and on and on and on about it.

I have a brand new 3 bin composter that I built myself. Each bin is approximately 3x3x3 feet. My old bins were similar but they fell apart after 20 years or so. We moved the contents onto the driveway and threw out the remains of the old bins, then realized that the Folk Fest was coming and since we live in the neighbourhood we have people who park on our driveway so the pile had to be moved off the driveway and then back again after the festival. All that turning meant I had the best compost ever this year LOL. The new bins are cedar with removable fronts and I hope will work very well for many years.

Just came in from the kind of composting I do here at Vermont Flower Farm. We have a lot of maple trees around and since they have very deep roots, the leaves contain a number of minor elements. I have a leaf vacuum that works well when the leaves are dry and there aren't too many sticks. Not the case today after recent wind storms. I did three pick-up truck loads of leaves and have them in one of many piles. I try to get some water into the piles before things freeze up solid and then I forget about them for a few years. When they are decomposed I'll have piles of black fluff. I try to track down the guys that trim the power lines as they always have truckloads of wood chips. I do the same with them so I have a good mix to start with. There's always a quantity of good composting materials laying around but I'd need a day stretcher to fit more in than I already do.

George Africa
Vermont

I started composting soon after I had my first real garden- about thirty some years ago now. I'm pretty primitive compared to the rest of you. In my city garden I used an old metal garbage bin that had holes punched in the bottom, buried it in the ground to about four inches from the top and used a composting recipe to fill it up with layers. It made very nice compost but was awkward to turn and digging it out wasn't fun.

Now I have much more waste and a much larger garden... with less time and energy than before. My compost bin is cobbled together concrete blocks around a pit I dug from the past used compost. I mostly just let it rot and only turn it occasionally. I also have a place in the veg. garden where I had piled up the leaves for leaf mold. It works best if they are chopped up in the leaf vacuum, but having to put in a new septic system pretty much ruined my veg garden. the fence came down and their equipment dragged all my stuff ( the pretty strawberry plants and all... ) out over their descration of my property.

I just think my compost style is just slightly better than nothing, it would be *much* better if I were more scientific about it. When I had chickens I used the chicken litter in the compost to "age" it. Wow, that was good stuff. I keep saying I'll get baby chicks again... but something has prevented me each year...maybe 2007 ::sigh::

Well.....I have been thinking about buying one of those very expensive composting machines that are sort of "barrels" turned on their sides and you turn with a crank. I have a leaf pile that is bigger than some people's homes, and just grows bigger every year. I have tried turning a little piece of it, but the next time I go out, that little piece has morphed into the ever growing pile. The bottom line is that despite having so many leaves, I never end up with usable compost. I have tried digging a little underneath to see if there is anything useful, but to no avail.

It sounds like all of you composters have avoided the fancy rigs and have gone the simple route. I guess I will give that a try and see how it goes.

Here's a confession . . . I don't compost. We live in a semi-wooded area, and each fall we drag huge tarp-loads of leaves into the woods, but I haven't even dug under those to see what's there. It's pure laziness, I know. I just buy bags from the garden center, and rationalize it by ensuring I buy from a specific local company - we drive by this particular farm every time we visit my mother-in-law.

Because I'm lazy I just pile it up - and pee on it occasionally to add nitrogen. It may be a bit slower and a bit untidy but it works.

I have two black plastic bins I guess approx 3x3x3 ft each. They're round and its some round number of litres but I've long since forgotten. One's the "empty" one filling up with new waste and the others the "full" one cooking down ready to use.

We also get a local council "green bin" service fortnightly. very convenient for woody hedge trimmings and other very slow compostable items. Perennial weeds go in this as do snails. (slug can get back out again so there's little point).

I have a "compost" bin in my kitchen, just a little trashcan for non meat foodscraps, however, it all goes into the greenbin. i'd love to have a compost pile or proper compost bin, but quite honestly, its not worth it. it would cost me a bit to make I'd have to do all the work, and then when I go away to college in six months, no one would tend it, and it would just at my parents houses, and no one would turn the compost, or water it, or do anything to help it turn into compost. there are some things that having divorced parents and knowing you will be moving out soon makes difficult. I figure I'll get a compost bin/pile when I get an apartment with a deck/patio, or a house with a bit of garden.

When we built out old house, we set aside a lot of space for gardens. My husband grew up on a farm. I started planting in one bed & the on the rest of the garden we would pile up the leaves in fall & add sawdust from cutting firewood & grass clippings but the best was the chicken #2 . That stuff had to age for a while. In the fall I put leaves on top of the flower & strawberry gardens (after the ground froze.) Then added compost in the spring. We never used containers, but had a big problem with near-by trees sending out roots & invading the compost piles from below. Our table scraps always went to the chickens but if there was a whole bunch of stuff like from canning it went on a compost pile. But we had all kinds of room.
Now, living in this apt. behind my son's house, we have a small garden, mostly flowers but a few tomato plants & a strawberry patch. My son piles up the sawdust from cutting firewood & we add grass clippings & leaves & odds & ends, but not food as there are a lot of skunks, possums, racoons , deer ect. I've been buying the big bags of composted cow manure from Wal-Mart as it takes a while for the sawdust & wood chips to decompose. I miss the chickens, but they were too much work for 1 person.

My compost bins are made from shipping pallets, gives a good size.
Drive in 'star pickets' (iron posts) and lift the pallets over the top to form back & sides, slide a star picket (or two) in to hold a pallet in as the "gate'. I have two bays set up, waiting to collect some more pallets (not copper treated) to set up a third so can turn from one bay to next and then start a new 'heap' in 1st one.
If I can get old carpet I line each bin with that and use as top, you may need to add moisture or keep dry depending on season and local conditions. Also use black plastic compost bins from hardware store / nursery for food scraps and smaller items. This may not be how the books tell you to do it but it works for me.
Some (nasty) weeds (in seed or runner type grassers) go to the council green waste recycling.

We moved into our house 20 years ago. At that time there was a large depression on the edge of our woods - 12X25' or so. We assumed that it was the remaining footprint of an above ground pool. I landscaped in front of it to hide it from the house and began filling it with leaves and greens. I really didn't use the resulting compost in an attempt to fill the hole. A few years ago I got serious about composting and have mentally created a three sectioned compost pile and rotate the active and passive piles. It works well. This year, however, some local idiot decided it was his purpose in life to repopulate the wild turkey on Long Island, NY and bred and released unknown number of wild turkeys in our neighborhood. A group of seven love!!!my compost piles. I haven't figured out what to do yet. The rumor is that this unknown guy will round them back up. Apparently this project has not gone over in our rual/suburban neighborhood. I am working on this. You Can't Make This Stuff Up!!!!

florahistoa - can you cover the piles with fine mesh chicken wire to keep the turkeys out?

I'm curious how mentally created compost piles work!!!

Teelgee: Yes chicken wire would keep them out and I have thought of various ways to do that. I would rather get rid of the turkeys altogether.

Mental compost bins. I divided the 25' length into three sections - no dividers-I just know where they begin and end. The first one has rested for 2 years and is ready to use, the next is cooking, the third is still being built up. After I use up the first section this spring,I will begin to rebuild it and close the third section for cooking. If you look at the pile as a whole now you will just see leaves and one area of decaying kitchen scraps. I know where the ready compost is and will expose it by moving off the top layer of leaves into the third pile for cooking. So in my mind I have a three bin system without the cages. Having the space and the depression is a luxury.

Ah, I get it now. I thought it was just an imaginary compost bin, in which case keeping the turkeys away would be easy, just imagine them flying south.

I made a compost bin out of hardware cloth, wood stakes, and zip ties. I am new to this whole composting/gardening thing, and so far my leaves, grass clippings and food scraps break down so quickly that my compost heap seems to never grow.

Bikebear, you are a genius!

I have pallets. I have T-posts. I have tons of manure (probably literally) that I compost. I have never put the three things together. How do I tell if the pallets are copper treated?

I also have a 30 gallon plastic container with a tight-fitting lid that I bought at a rummage sale that I use for my household composting. I used it for other things, but when it cracked, I drilled holes in the sides for more aeration and it became my composting bin. Whenever I add vegetable scraps. I put it on its side, roll it back and forth a bit and then put whichever side was down, up.

It's amazing how bold the wild turkeys are. We have them naturally in this area, although they are very much on the rise. I have seen a flock of 30 or so along my creek bank. One friend has to keep her garage door closed, or the 'wild' turkeys roost on the garage rafters and make a horrible mess.

I compost in two bins in my yard. One is a flip top plastic bin with a sliding door at the bottom--great for scraps I think the animals may go for. The other is a flexible round plastic sheet with holes in it that is held together with wing nuts--a relatively cheap buy from Peaceful Valley. I do water the piles as needed.

I also vermicompost in my basement. I love it--only drawback is the fruit flies that sometimes congregate. I nuke scraps that I put in there to kill any possible larvae. Harvesting the compost and checking on the worms are relaxing--go figure!

Why are you worried about the turkeys? When we had chickens, they loved our compost pile. They could level a beautifully built mound in an afternoon. They did the first half of turning the pile. They also ate the insects & weed seeds, and pre-processed most of the larger bits from the kitchen.

CEP, my partner refers to it as our "sacred compost pile." She considers it meditation to sift the compost.

Teelgee, I couldn't agree more. At least once each spring as set out new plantings, I'll find myself sitting in a flower bed sifting fresh soil through my fingers. The kneeling pad and stool will be off to the side and I'm just on my bottom enjoying the power of nature.

21 leewit: Chickens would be fine - turkeys are a mess, aggressive,(at least this group are), and they act like they own the place. Last night they spent only 15 min. on our deck. Roosting on chairs and tables. The mess they left rivaled any Canadian Geese flock I have ever known. Add to it that the 3 males are entering their spring mating postering. All this makes working in the yard a bit intimidating. I would love advice on how to establish dominance over a group of adult turkeys - any suggestions out there?

Thanksgiving every Sunday?

24: florahistora: Sorry, I'm only familiar with chickens, and ours were affectionate pets, although we did keep the back deck fenced off from them;)

If they act like chickens with a pecking order, you might have to convince them that you are the top turkey. Good luck with that. Chickens make a point of reminding each other who's in charge with a vigourous peck to the head from time to time.

19 streamsong: Sometimes there marked other its just gut feeling or that there is a green tinge to the timber (lumber).
Happy gardening, your garden should be doing well with all that horse poo.

>19 streamsong: streamsong

Aside from the color, which may be a bit off, pressure-treated boards often have small perforations on the surface, to allow the preservative chemical to penetrate deeper into the wood. They may look like staples have been applied and removed. You would not want to use pressure treated wood, or creosote-soaked railroad ties, anywhere near compost that you intend to use on food crops.

I had a brainwave!

A while ago I was in our local indie coffee shop and I asked them what they do with the spent coffee grounds. They said they throw them out! I said "If I bring you a bucket, will you save them for me?" and they said yes. It's great - I stop in every Saturday and get the coffee grounds (if they fill the bucket sooner they phone me and I run over for it) and take it home, dump it in the pile, rinse the bucket and take it back. I usually dump a couple of buckets of water on the pile when rinsing the bucket.

A couple of weeks ago I had a day off and I turned the compost for the first time this spring and it was really cooking. It was a warmish day but the compost was literally steaming. I don't think I've ever had the pile get so hot and I'm pretty sure the difference is the coffee grounds (maybe the extra buckets of water are helping too). Also, possibly due to the extra heat, there were NO mouse nests this year. I love it! I don't want the mice around but I always felt guilty disturbing the poor little babies.

It may be a sad commentary on the level of excitement in my life, but I'm really excited to turn the compost again to see if it's still working :)

Starbucks has a coffee grounds "recycling" program. They bag the used grounds up and will give them to you for the asking.
I have a small yard and living here in Georgia and I was worried about the heat causing the compost to smell and about bugs etc so I bought a compost tumbler from one of the online gardening sites. It is a black plastic drum with a hinged lid on top and slits on the bottom (that let the compost tea drain). It sits on a base that has rollers which allow the drum to be easily rotated and the base also acts as a collection system for the compost tea. I have had no problem with smell or bugs but it did tend to dry out very quickly in the heat. I have to remember to water it at least as often as I tumble it. It wouldn't be much good for large amounts of yard waste but it's great for kitchen scraps.

I generally don't have a problem with compost smelling, or with bugs. If I put something stinky in (e.g. some potatoes that have gone nasty) I usually put a bit of dirt, older compost or dry leaves on top and that seems to keep the smell down. Also, regular turning helps although I can't say I do it all that often myself.

I don't have a Starbucks right close by (and for the sake of the indie shop up the block I hope they don't move in) but there's one in my regular grocery store so I'll ask if they save grounds.

>30 Sodapop: If your compost is working properly it shouldn't smell like anything except good healthy soil. If it does smell bad, it's probably anaerobic. The tumbler is a great solution for a small garden in city.

We have lots of coffee shops in Portland where we can go collect coffee grounds (though I generate a lot of my own!!!)

I compost and have three different piles--each with it's own "container". The first is a leaf pile circled by chicken wire to keep the leaves from blowing away. The second is a barrel on a stand that I can tumble. The last is just a pile with a wood frame on three sides, open in the front. The wood frame is made of 2x2s with spacers to leave 2" of space between each for air flow.

The chicken wire leaf pile sits next to he barrel. I put all my kitchen scraps (vegetable bits and peelings, coffee grounds, eggshells, paper towels, etc.) into the barrel, and throw in a handful of leaves from the leaf pile everytime I dump scraps.

The kitchen scraps and leaves compost in the tub until there are enough of them to dump, and then they go into pile with the wooden frame, along with all my weeds, and other yard waste. The mostly composted scraps from the tub helps to kick the pile into gear, and after three or so months, the pile gets spread on the garden.

I've probably said this on different threads, but I'll say it again . We have to be careful here on Vancouver Island because of the rats. Consequently I still compost as I did in Alberta for over twenty years, but we have modified our system. I use the round bins (2 of them), and under them, directly on top of the soil, we have fine 1/4 inch galvanized mesh. The bins are spiked down through the mesh into the soil, so they are stable. No rats have been able to invade them yet, thankfully. One is for more or less 'complete' compost, and the other is for fresh offerings. We can't use any kind of open concept bin, but this way is easy. When I add my stainless steel compost bucket full of kitchen scraps (vegetable only), I also add water. I find it is easiest to add water to the bucket full of scraps and gently swish it back and forth on my way to the compost. That way, everything comes out, and water is added to the compost at the same time (we have dry summers here).