Who loves their composter?

When would you use compost tea as opposed to the compost itself? I have so much to learn!

It's just a wet "supercharge" to add via spray or otherwise. It's just concentrated stuff from your compost with some extra foods thrown in.

Here's a pic of my compost pit. As you can see I have it covered with welded cattle panels and pumice blocks on top to keep the dogs out.
Susan105

Oh, I love my compost bins!

If you fertilize your yard with a high nitrogen lawn food, throw a couple of handfuls in the compost pile when you do,
nitrogen helps the environment inside in breaking down the stuff.
We have 3 composters (bot them when they were cheap years ago), rotate them:
Cascadia: -- easy to take apart, big enough to mix but not thoroughly-- our neighbor puts in a large plastic pipe
in the center that is meant for drainage with holes. I don't thats more work.
http://www.composters.com/kingcounty/bins.shtml#cas

worm box directions -didn't make one- these composters attract red worms, well all worms and slugs and small flies-
dreaded fruit fly in summer and fungus flies early and late--(minor downside-good for birds, careful what I bring back)
and add a couple of shovel fulls to the next batch. Most days in the spring I open them up and pick the
slugs under and on the liner-- good way to control.
http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/composting/documents/ez-wormbin_guide.pdf

a good way to add to your garden, -- also if you leave your grass clippings on your lawn, once in a while,
while the lawn isn't seeding, collect alittle and add to the compost- good kick as long as its in layers, then mix.
have fun, I do.

You can also put shredded paper or newspaper in your compost. Red worms like newspaper. Any thing but meat or dairy.

I like Sofers compost bins. That's what I would do if I had the room and a man's muscles.
I'm trying to get our homeowner's assn. to build bins like those for all the people up here to use.

I do think I will get the one from the county tomorrow. I get a daily newspaper so I will add that to it, and red worms! I usually have fruit and vegetable scraps but I won't put in meat or dairy.
I like Sofer's as well but I am concerned about creatures.
Thanks!

I have been gone a couple of days so late on responding. First of all all compost is attractive to pests. Pests are what break it down. Now we don't have any raccoons or rats because of cats and dogs. But ANY compost pile will have them. I have never had any problem with compost attracting anything. I never use anything with meat grease or cooked foods in the pile. There is never a problem with too much rain. I irrigate mine twice weekly in the summer. Lastly I turn my piles about every 1 to 2 months. Usually only twice on any pile. My entire garden is rich with compost because everything that I take from it in the fall becomes compost in the early summer. I don't have disease but the occasional white fly and aphid. My soil when I started 12 yrs ago had no worms now you could fish all day with one shovelfull. I just warn those who get the small compost holders because you will have 100 times more material than that one could hold. I usually chip and shred all of what I put in the compost piles and this is what is waiting 6 months later. (including 3 months of frozen winter)

I had a conversation with my neighbor today - she is a professional garden designer. She advised me not to get a composter - just make a pile in the yard. She said exactly what you said Steve, that it will be too small. She does not put any kitchen scraps in hers at all to avoid raccoons and rodents. However, she saves kitchen scraps and just digs a little hole in the garden and throws them in and covers them up. She does this a few times a week but not so often in winter. Her garden is beautiful and her plants are healthy. What could be easier? so now I have changed my mind again. I need to find something to keep the pile somewhat contained and to keep the dog & cats out. Some fence sections or something. The pile doesn't need to be too large for my little city lot! Man, I am learning so much.

Mine is made up of railings I had on my deck that are made of cedar. I took off the railing on my decks to put on the solarium at my house. I thought the wagon wheel look was more interesting. Use 2X4 welded wire it comes in 4',6' heights and supports itself, opens easily to invert later and is cheap. A lot of people use hay bales, Fence posts etc. Every month I have a full box of piled material that cooks down to small amounts in a month

Steve, I have a question though. Aren't you afraid that the compost will get too ot and catch your rails on fire? After all, they are wood, and the compost is nothing but heat. Nice setup though!

Susan105

Heavens no. Compost only will heat up to say tops here of 140 F and that is in the center. The edges where it is against the wood hardly gets going until I rotate it into the center. The relative humidity here when composting is active can be as low as 5%. The edges dry out often.

Whew! You had me scared there for a bit when I saw your dividers. Thanks for the reassurance.

You mean I also have to be concerned about fires??!!? Geeezzz

As for holding everything from a city lot--I never put in branches or big hard stuff. I take that in to a recycle place in Shelton. Mason county doesn't have home pick-up on yard waste but Portland should. Check that out. Mine holds all the soft stuff, dry leaves, grass clipping, dead--headings, small pruning stuff. No problem.

No you do not have to worry about fires. I think the temps of wood combustion in dry wood is about 600 F plus.

Portland does have home pick-up of yard waste and my bin is always full. I can only imagine how much stuff Laurie and Sofer accumulate! I don't have a lot of big branches or hard stuff and I will still keep my yard bin for those things.

Tills have you decided what you are going to do about composting?

Tils should do the ones like Sofer. She has all that room and a place to hide them.

I burn all of my woody stock. We don't have any limitations here. The months of March and April and again in November. What shreds easily I shred: Fir branches, pine needles and all perenial debris. Branches off trees Large I burn.

Do you add the ashes to the compost bins?

I have a very large pile of ash. (pickup truck load) Their going to a lower area on our property in an area of deep pine needles. In our 6.5 to 7 ph it only raises it and much dies. So in 3 yrds of compost (one bin) I place about 3 gallons of fine fireplace ash just before the last turn and use it soon. You guys can use more because some of your ph is below 5. That is why you use all that dolomite for the grass.

I have one kinda like Steves. mine is 2 4ft. bins. but what I think I did wrong is mine is open fencing 2X4" mesh. I think I need to enclose the bottom half to keep the heat in. It does okay so to speak, but is a pain, cause the DA## Blackberrys gets into it. I have blackberry heaven out here, they take over, overnight LOL
I was just thinking about this thing, sounds good on paper LOL I wanted to fine something I can move place to place. Without having to make one in 3 places. my yard does not make things easy. LOL

I agree Tills. I cover the windward side of the pile with a plywood piece to prevent moisture loss and confine the material. Next year I am placing plywood across the back with lots of small holes drilled in them. I am also going to place a hinged shade device over the piles to limit the sun on them. This will allow the moisture to stay stable.

AH, Steve. I don't think you can compost a hose, is it there for a reason???

Thanks I know what I need to do.

I unlike you guys have to irrigate even my compost. We start in Aug with very dry days full of sun and build to hot winds off the washington plain. I soak my compost all summer.

Steve, what's your elevation? We're at 3600'. We also have to irrigate as we're considered the High Desert. Here's a pic of my irrigation gun for the south end of the yard. It stands about 5'6" tall. The clothes pin is so I can stop it and move it. DH made 2 of those, you can't see them but they have wheels and we use a 2" irrigation hose as you can see. It works great, I let it irrigate for 12 hrs once a week. The compost pit is at the south end as well, so it gets PLENTY of water. I even filled it with water one time (not intentionally) and it took 2 days for it to drain.

As you can see the sheep have plenty to eat! LOL!

Susan105

This message was edited Mar 13, 2009 8:32 AM

I am on cell phone this am so can't see pictures as well so will respond this afternoon. we are at 3200 ft elevation.

So you're not too much lower than us.

Susan105

Nice green and rich grasses. You probably get good spray with 2" hoses. We don't benefit with spray irrigation here because I use soakers to keep evaporation down. Also we have hard water and all the plants would be white with lime on the leaves if we did during the summer dry. I have a few areas that I spray (woodland gardens in the night) but it also can lead to fungus on some of my plants.

I have an earth machine and a compost pile. Love them both. The earth machine is $40 if purchased from the Thurston County Master Gardeners http://www.compostbinsthurstoncounty.com/index.html

Thanks Steve, yah I water that section at night when there's no wind so the water hits the ground. LOL
Susan105

I have a plastic composter that turns on it's base. It composts in batches. If you keeps adding indefinitely, there will never be a finished batch of compost. Its small size is limiting . I have a very small property and I live alone and this one composter cannot begin to handle all my scraps and garden waste. It does not "Compost in 6 weeks" which the manufacturer promises. Maybe in a year.

I fill it every spring and summer and then it sits and becomes smelly mush through the winter. The next spring and summer it cooks and then, maybe, I will have a finished batch by fall. Ideally, if you have the space, you need one composter for filling. one that is presently full and "cooking" and a third that is finished and you are using. I have learned to give it air during the early spring by opening it's door and letting the air and sun in.This speeds up the process.

The pluses are that: it is compact, it keeps out the rodents, when it's finished, you can roll it over to the garden area to dump out. it also makes compost tea while it's cooking. I'm not willing to give it up because I love having a place to recycle my scraps. i do not put weeds in it. Only the smallest of twigs, they take too long to compost and pine cones won't breakj down. Hope this is helpful.

Maui thank you for the information. I also live alone and have a small city lot and many people have told me that one like yours will not do. I'm building one out of wood and wire mesh. It will have 2 bins adjacent to each other. They will have 3 regular height sides but the fourth side, which is the front, will be maybe a foot high to allow for easy turning. The design is a combination of information that I got from a lot of people so hopefully it will be functional!

My new compost bin is finished and I am happy with result! Thank you all for sharing your experience and thoughts.

Judy--Wow, a picture of a virgin compost bin! Looks way too neat and tidy...but I am sure that you will fix that quickly with spring cleanup :)! Seriously, it is very nice, and it should work very well for you.

good job on the compost bin.

Oh My- that is a beautiful compost bin! I am impressed!

Now you need a chipper to get those sticks down to a compostable size . . .

katie59 I have started chopping them up. I thought I would put only more easily compostable stuff in the other side. How small do the twigs need to be? I can always take them out and get rid of them in my yard waste garbage. I also have a lot of earthworms in my yard and I might add some of those along with a little soil. What do you think is best?