What can you NOT compost?
Nuclear power plants .....................
Al
What can you NOT compost?
But they do make a hot pile!
Al, you're on the wrong thread!!! This isn't about homemade soil mixes for containers!
Corey, they were all brown leaves from oaks, hickories and maples and it was only about 4 months total.
Doug
hot pile rofl!!!! wrong thread rofl again
Rain and snow bring some N.
I'm on the right thread - unless making an attempt to squeeze a grin out of folks isn't allowed.
Al
roflmao
..... and who said anything about homemade soils? Did I miss something?
Hava good weeknd.
Just picking at you Al.....Believe me I really enjoy your posts, very informative.
Doug
What about discarded flower seeds? Also I drilled about 12 one-inch holes in a
39-gallon black garbage container to create compost. Should I leave off the lid? I'm very excited that my DH has finally given me the green light. He was convinced that compost equalled stench.
I would keep the lid on. I don't know what you will be putting in your compost container to create compost, but you might even want to find a way to tie or weight the lid down. By keeping the lid on you can control the moisture level and keep critters out! If you don't have the mix correct it will also help control that stench DH was concerned about.
My theory is that it only smells "earthy" unless you go overboard in one of the ways below.
Kitchen scraps LOOK yuccky unless you cover them over, but "balance" keeps them from smelling bad.
1. Much too much nitrogen (manure, coffee grounds, kitchen scraps)
Solve that by adding more "browns" like shredded paper, dry leaves, dry garden trimmings or sawdust.
Excessive browns don't smell bad, they just cook slower.
2. Not-enough-air (or too-much-water)
Usually caused by too much water or packed-too-tight or piled-too-high.
Cured by keeping excess rain off and turning more often or spreading apart a little.
Spreading it apart keeps it from heating up. Better (if you can) to keep one big heap 4'x4'x4', but somehow air can still get in.
If you can mix in something that keeps it "fluffed up", like twigs, you're golden. But then you have to pick the twigs out or screen the compost before using it. If your pile is mostly manure or finely ground coffee grounds, packed-too-tight is hard to avoid. Maybe a whole layer of m ostly shredded paper will form a big air channel until the gorunds wash into it and clog it up. Then turn it with a spade or a spading fork (pitchfork).
If you can drill "air holes" into the heart of the pile, you're a Graduate Level composter. For example, push a length of rebar or steel pipe down from the top, deep into the pile, then "swizzle" it around. Or hammer it in sideways, then jiggle up-down and back-and-forth.
If you had too-much-Nitrogen and not enough air, then you add some browns and let the air in, the pile may start cooking really fast and make enough heat in the center that you can feel it. Now you're killing weed seeds and plant disease spores, and can claim your Compost PhD. A hot pile is a badge of distinction.
Rick - you're 100% right on all points. Our 6 bins have no smell.
Those are really nice looking bins! Do the boards come off one side to make shoveling or turning easier? Or can you shovel out of the bottom?
You must have a lot of stuff to feed them. Looks like you have, what, 7-8 cubic yards?
(envy envy envy!)
Thanks! The boards lift up at the front. Jack knows the numbers better than I do but I think your guess is very close. He made the ones on the right in '92 and the "new" ones about 8 years later. The new ones are a foot deeper - a good idea at the time but as we age they are more difficult to turn.