- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Eco-Friendly Family
Talk to me about compost piles
I have read very little about them...
Are they easy to make?
what do you put in them?
What start up supplies did you buy?
What do you do with your compost?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Talk to me about compost piles
Are they easy to make? Yes or no. They can be as simple or difficult as you want them to be. Some people just toss their scraps in a pile and forget about it... maybe toss it every now and them. And some people have specially made bins that they add to and turn according to a timetable or other scientific method. My grandma's old compost pile was some chicken wire in a circle. When it got full, she would pick it up and plop it down a few feet away. Her new one is a fancy one that sits up off of the ground and you can turn it with a rotating handle. My first one was a piece of scrap fencing that DH cut in half both directions and we used metal stakes and wire to secure it to the ground. We even made one of the sides roughly hinged so that we could open it to turn what was inside. Our new one is just a plastic compost bin from Lowe's. I'd have rather had a wooden one like my fence one but DH vetoed the thought of him sawing another piece of fencing into 4 pieces again. ;-)
what do you put in them? Pretty much anything that isn't dairy, grain or meat. We're not scientific about it at all. I toss in what I have and don't stress about it, since we don't garden much (yet). Egg shells, potato peels (when I have them), leftover lettuce, banana peels (of which we have a never ending supply with our resident banana monster), apple cores, ends of celery and carrots and pretty much any vegetable that I forget about in the fridge until it goes bad. Not to mention coffe grounds, used tea bags, shredded papers (not anything shiny), shredded cardboard (at times), grass clippings, leaves, dirt, dead annuals from our flower pots (usually dump the potting soil in there too and replace it).
What start up supplies did you buy? For our first one, we needed the metal stakes and wire. That was it. Under $15 The new one was like $55 and that's all we needed. If you are going to get technical, there are some compost starters and worms you could buy to speed things up, but we were just looking for a way to reduce trash, not a way to improve our gardens (because we already kill everything anyway).
What do you do with your compost? Fill in holes that our dogs have dug in the yard. :-)
SWB has good info above.
Also check out this: https://www.compostinfo.com/site_map.htm
It's easy.
Are they easy to make? Some are complicated some are easy, like pp said. Mine is SUPER easy.
We have a system where we put stuff in a big glass jar in the kitchen and empty it once a day in compost. We also fill the jar with leftover water few may have (from aglass, washing a pan, etc...) so the compost gets some water automatically! Then once a week (unless it rains) I may water it more and turn it...but we cheat and often forget that step and things still compose, just slower.
what do you put in them? Veggy and fruit scraps that can't be used for our stock bag, coffee grounds, leftover coffee, tea and tea leaves, Sometimes some paper. Egg shells, plant scraps from garden, leftover water
What start up supplies did you buy? I bought nothing. I had this wood crate with no bottom that someone left in my backyard and we used that. I also have wire shelf that fits as a lid to keep animals out and lets rain in, but I found that to! Nothing fancy
What do you do with your compost? Use it to gardenOh thanks ladies! Do you compost in the winter with snow on the ground?
Is there a gardening board on the nest? I should go check the nest out to see.
Yes... but it doesn't snow all that often here (Mid-atlantic coastal region). It will just take longer to decompose in the cooler temperatures.