~Compost~ | Imamother

MommyLuv

Sat, Dec 09 2006, 6:35 pm

Anyone out there ever successfully kept a compost heap?

How did you do it?

I am interested in composting. We live in a warm climate and have a backyard, and are trying to garden. With the amount of produce waste I toss in the trash, I definitely have enough coming out of the kitchen to made great compost.

I did some research, and found that the easiest way to do it is with expensive equipment (a barrel-type container with a device to turn the contents, it costs 500$ !!.)

Any more economical options?
And, how do you keep animals away from it?

Esther01

Sat, Dec 09 2006, 9:51 pm

my parents used to compost. this is how it worked.

we had outside a 'garbage can' turned up side down on the ground and the bottom of the garbage can, now the top of the compost can had a door type of opening. I don't know where they purchased it but it was not anything close to 500, maybe 50.

in the kitchen my mother has a special garbage can that is right off the counter (makes pealing into it easy) for only fruit and veg trash. when the bag of this garbage was full someone went outside and dumped it in the compost can. no need for any technology, if the weather is warm the fruits and veg will turn into compost by itself.

to keep animals from climbing in, under etc. my mom bought one of these noise machines that animals run away from but ppl can't hear it. it's too loud for our ears. (I have no clue how much that cost)

I hope this post helps you a bit.

if you have more questions feel free to ask, I will try to answer.

good luck.

rainbow baby

Sun, Dec 10 2006, 9:55 am

We've got a compost heap here in the Uk. Basically it is at the back of the garden and all we do is put all veg and fruit peelings, egg shells, paper towels and garden waste and the rabbits waste onto it. I think you need to leave it for up to two years well that's in the UK where it is cold. We just keep piling the waste on.

But there are other compost units that you can get, the worm system, etc....

MommyLuv

Sun, Dec 10 2006, 11:20 am

Don't you have to keep turning the compost to allow oxygen to circulate and speed up the composting process?

Jewishmama: Does it smell bad? and do you leave it open and exposed or build some kind of shield around it?

rainbow baby

Sun, Dec 10 2006, 1:41 pm

Yes you are right you are meant to keep turning it, not sure if dh ever does. With ours it is literally right at the end of our garden, we have a huge one so it is nowhere near the house. We have a wall built around in on three sides but nothing covering it. I think dh might cover it with something this year. But you can buy different composters. In out old house we brought a composter as we only had a small garden. This link has a cartton of the one that we used to have. http://www.recyclenow.com/home......html They are relatively cheep here in the UK, but obviousely I do not know how much they cost where you live.