|
Post by hmoosek on Jul 8, 2022 16:26:28 GMT -6
Me and my 4 legged kiddos go through several apples and bananas weekly. I don’t have chickens to throw those scraps to, but I’ve been thinking of starting a compost heap. I’ve also been thinking of just having my brother come dig a post hole with his tractor out in the garden to throw peelings and stuff in, but at the same time, I don’t want to encourage critters.
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 9, 2022 7:08:14 GMT -6
My husband and I started composting when we lived in a rented townhouse in northern Virginia (outside of D.C.) with a postage stamp yard. We just used a covered trashcan with some holes drilled in the bottom and sides for aeration and drainage. We must have turned it with a pitchfork or shovel or something. It worked for many years, but we did get a couple of compost tumblers after we bought our first home and had lots of leaves and grass clippings in addition to kitchen scraps (and compost tumblers were way cheaper back in those days). They’ve held up, and we still have them here in Texas.
Recently we tried trapping a skunk using some of our rotting, larvae-filled compost in a container in a trash bag with the trap inside. I thought it would be very appealing to the skunk, but he didn’t come that night. He did come a couple of mornings later, though, to eat some food we had taken from our fridge and left out in the heat for him. He’s not digging in our garden anymore, but I think one of his friends or relations has started visiting.
Maybe if I had an open compost pile somewhere away from my garden, I wouldn’t have quite the critter problem that I’m having. I do worry that it would just keep attracting critters, though, and they’d find my garden anyway.
I therefore have no advice for you, but I do think turning kitchen scraps in to nourishment for your plants is very rewarding, so I encourage you to do it after you figure out what would work best for you.
|
|
|
Post by macmex on Jul 9, 2022 11:09:47 GMT -6
I think the post hole idea is a good one. I'd do it. If you get a skunk in there... well, you could always fill it in
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Jul 18, 2022 10:16:56 GMT -6
I’m really shocked at how much stuff I’ve been putting in the garbage. I tend to eat a banana and apple daily, sometimes twice if the kiddos aren’t full (which they never are.) then there’s coffee grounds, egg shells, potato peelings. It really adds up fast. This morning alone, I had some cilantro stems, 6 egg shells, coffee grounds, and a banana peeling.
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 18, 2022 11:11:47 GMT -6
I’m really shocked at how much stuff I’ve been putting in the garbage. I tend to eat a banana and apple daily, sometimes twice if the kiddos aren’t full (which they never are.) then there’s coffee grounds, egg shells, potato peelings. It really adds up fast. This morning alone, I had some cilantro stems, 6 egg shells, coffee grounds, and a banana peeling. Cool.
Now I need to go out to the barn and drag out the composter I bought several years ago, and put the thing together. (it's still in the box it was delivered in)
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 18, 2022 11:29:29 GMT -6
Here's the one I have out in the barn. Uh, the composter, not the girl. The composter is on the right. It's a Lifetime brand 80 gallon...
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 18, 2022 12:26:25 GMT -6
We have two of those Lifetime 80 gallon ones. We’ve had them for years now, and they’ve held up well. We’ll get one full, then let it cook while we start on the other.
I remember the composters taking some time to put together, but once you’ve done it, you’re done. We keep a stainless steel bucket under our sink and fill that with cuttings and peels and eggshells and the like. It doesn’t take long for us to fill it. Then we dump it into whichever composter is currently being filled.
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Jul 18, 2022 14:28:30 GMT -6
That looks like a nice one!
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 18, 2022 15:34:28 GMT -6
We have two of those Lifetime 80 gallon ones. We’ve had them for years now, and they’ve held up well. We’ll get one full, then let it cook while we start on the other. I remember the composters taking some time to put together, but once you’ve done it, you’re done. We keep a stainless steel bucket under our sink and fill that with cuttings and peels and eggshells and the like. It doesn’t take long for us to fill it. Then we dump it into whichever composter is currently being filled. Good to know. That's a great idea about having 2 of them.
Back when I bought it I remember watching a video about putting it together, I'll watch that video again to help me figure out the tricky parts.
|
|
|
Compost
Jul 28, 2022 12:00:02 GMT -6
Post by woodeye on Jul 28, 2022 12:00:02 GMT -6
I decided to buy another Lifetime 80 gallon tumbling composter, but found that it is out of stock almost everywhere. Just a guess, but it probably has been discontinued. I looked at my receipt for the 1st one I bought and it was right at $130 back in January, 2018. The places I have checked recently, even though they say it is out of stock, have prices that are at least $100 more than that. I did find one place that said they were in stock, but the price was suspiciously low. So I investigated the trustworthiness of the website and found that it was most likely a scam.
So to be safe, I'll find another model to use as a 2nd composter...
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 28, 2022 16:07:07 GMT -6
Bought this one as my 2nd composter, it's made in Canada by a manufacturing company named FCMP.
Not nearly as big as the Lifetime 80 gallon, it's only 37 gallon, but should still be a good partner for the Lifetime...
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 29, 2022 14:49:29 GMT -6
chrysanthemum Do you have your Lifetime Compost tumblers sitting out in the sun when you use them?
Or do you keep them in the shade, or partial shade?
I've been reading the pros and cons of sitting them out in the sun, but since I know that you live in an area with the same scorching hot summers as I do, I would like to know what you think about it...
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 29, 2022 16:21:30 GMT -6
We keep them under trees where they get some morning sun but are shaded during the hottest parts of the day. In Virginia we didn’t worry about the sun so much, but here it’s so intense. Even in the shade, it’s plenty hot, so we think there’s more danger of deteriorating the plastic than there is of not heating the compost thoroughly. It is UV-protected, any we haven’t seen signs of it deteriorating, but we like to be careful. It’s also just plain nicer to be shaded if we need to empty our indoor compost container in the middle of the day. I find the sun down here so intense that I prefer to be protected from it myself.
A few weeks ago we stopped adding fresh materials to one of our bins to let it sit. When I was looking at it yesterday, though, I decided that it was slowing down and probably needed more nitrogen. It’s easier for us to add too much carbon (oodles of fallen oak leaves), and we don’t have grass to mow for nitrogen. We have kitchen scraps, but not a lot at a time. I put some alfalfa pellets and cottonseed meal in the bottom of a bucket and drenched it with water collected from the air conditioner condensation and let it sit a while, then dumped it in the bin and turned it. Today when I opened it up, the heat came pouring out. It will be interesting to see what happens with it in the next couple of weeks.
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 29, 2022 17:15:28 GMT -6
Chrysanthemum, I've got an area like you wrote about, it's between 2 elm trees. It will get morning sun for a few hours but will be in the shade during the heat of afternoon. I'm just learning to compost, so your tips about the alfalfa & cottonseed meal are good to know.
The smaller composter I am getting is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I'll put it together first and get some compost started, then put the Lifetime composter together...
Thank You...
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 30, 2022 12:26:58 GMT -6
If you have a helper available, it’s probably a good idea to ask that person to assist. It’s been lots of years since I put that Lifetime Composter together with my husband, but he and I both recall that it would be a harder job without help. I remember that my older son was the helper to my husband on the second one, and he couldn’t have been older than 8 and was perhaps only 7 at the time, but he was still a helper.
|
|