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boy howdy
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Posted: Aug/25/2008 9:38 PM PST
Man do we ever not compost right. I mean our intentions are good, but here's how we do it. We have a chicken wire cylinder next to the garden and we throw in all our vegetable scraps and the grass clippings. No turning. In spring we spread the contents in the garden before we till it and wait for the thousands and thousands of tomato and pigmelon plants to spring forth. I guess I should read further into this composting phenomenon............ |
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Posted: Aug/26/2008 4:03 AM PST
Boy, howdy, indeed. What a hoot. I know what you mean about the sprouts. It took me forever to explain to my hubby about compost being ready! One year I had pigmelons coming up everywhere! |
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Posted: Aug/26/2008 7:12 AM PST
Mmm, pigmelons. Oink oink! In the olden days we called that method "sheet composting". I've often heard that sheet composting generates, encourages, and attracts unwanted verminous creatures, such as microbes and rats. However in my experience, mixing in a generous portion of crushed leaves, grass clippings, and other leafy materiel deters the vermins in favor of friendly squirmy earthworms. My advice for sheet composting: bury it deep. In the winter, earthworms burrow down where they are insulated from the cold at the surface. They find comfort in your sheets of scraps and yard waste. In the spring, you'll have less trouble with unwanted germination from seeds that are buried under six inches of soil. |
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Posted: Aug/26/2008 8:18 AM PST
Heat is the key to preventing unwanted seeds from germinating 
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Posted: Aug/26/2008 9:47 PM PST
Hmmmm... we don't have problems with any vermin other than slugs. And those are all over the yard. Right now the wire thing is sort of back in some bushes where it's out of view somewhat... maybe a sunnier spot would help. But if I move it, I guess a regular bed where it could be turned would be the way to go. Our yard is small though and who wants to devote a couple square yards of good space to rotting matter? Sigh, this thread is making me think back. My last job was as exec chef at a large hospital. We served about 3000 meals a day between public and patients, and I had a lady that did nothing for eight hours a day but peel, trim and cut fresh fruits and veggies. She threw away probably 100 gallons a DAY of melon peels, broccoli stems, onion and tomato ends, cabbage cores etc. I always wanted to find a way to turn all that into compost but couldn't really walk out of work with 100 gallons of anything, not to mention where would I have put it? |
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Posted: Aug/27/2008 6:36 AM PST
Quote: Originally posted by aimee Our yard is small though and who wants to devote a couple square yards of good space to rotting matter?You have a point there. I'm in the same situation, that's why I went with the barrel composter. But hey, now you've got that big vacant lot to play with! Why not institute a couple of composting projects there? I bet there's some good non-profits out there that would support such a project - I know we had one here, a vermiculture project that was supported by a local foundation. They even supplied volunteers to do the work. Imagine, you could set up a big vermiculture bin, and a couple of old-fashioned slat bins, and a barrel composter, and make it into a public composting center. Invite people to use it for composting their yard waste. Then you could sell the finished compost to raise money for some worthy cause. Maybe that hospital could be convinced to participate. Or other businesses. You could have a "greenie point" award so the businesses could brag about how environmentally responsible they are for recycling some of their organic waste. Pardon me. Just pipe dreaming. 
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Posted: Aug/27/2008 9:14 AM PST
That's a great idea stereoman! I've often thought of talking to the produce department of our one local grocery- they have a great salad and fruit bar. I'm sure they have loads of "waste" that could find a good home in my compost heap 
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Posted: Aug/28/2008 5:13 AM PST
Stereoman -- sounds good, if I knew what any of those things were..... Need to do research. You are right, at any rate there's plenty of room there for a bin or a barrel, and we never know what to do with the grass clippings, and no place in the world needs compost more than that. Unfortunately, the hospital is an hour away in another town. One (of many) reasons it's my "last" job and not my current one
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Posted: Aug/28/2008 6:57 AM PST
also check with your local sewage district, or keep greater (fill in city) beautiful type organization. Ours offers rain barrels and composters at really great pricing. |
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Posted: Aug/28/2008 8:43 AM PST
Quote: Originally posted by sassmuffin also check with your local sewage district, or keep greater (fill in city) beautiful type organization. Ours offers rain barrels and composters at really great pricing.Boy what a great thing that would be. I am going to contact our city and see if they do or will begin to offer rain barrels/composters. Thanks Linda B |
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