Do you compost

We recently moved out in the country. Nothing to do but we had to make a compost pile. I admit, it's a handy place for garbage we would usually put in the can for a week. Yech!

Does it work? How much work is it? How often are you supposed to turn it? Do you keep it wet? Do you get enough compost to justify the work?

TIA

Steve

Reply to
SteveB
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You can make it as much work as you want. Generally speaking, the more work you put in the quicker it becomes useable. We were in a rush the first few years so we turned it, kept it moist, etc - but now we just leave it sit and wait a while longer. The pile we just started a couple weeks ago is about

8' wide, 4' deep and 15' long. We have a neighbor friend in the lawn care business and he brings a few truck loads for us - then we just add to it - our own leaves / grass clippings, household garbage, some manure, and maybe a broken bag of caked up lawn fertilizer.
Reply to
Srgnt Billko

You'll get a difference of opinion from many people on this subject, but here's my experience. They are a lot of work and what compost I got wasn't worth the effort. I now buy my compost and use the time for other more worthwhile work.

A lot of variables go into having a good workable compost pile. Like do you have the right amount of natural rainfall to keep it moist but not wet or dry? Do you have a source of equal amounts of green and brown material to feed the pile? Are you physically able to turn it every few weeks?

In my case we've had a drought for years so it took watering with a hose on a regular basis. I had to bag grass clippings and leaves to feed the pile rather than mulch them. It took almost 2 hours of hard work every time I turned it. Even with all that, only about half of it would break down into compost. Plus I once got a den of snakes in it (guess they liked the heat it produced).

I'm sure others have had satisfactory results, but I quit trying.

Red

Reply to
Red

I just ordered one of these:

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Reply to
GWB

i put all my compost material on the curb now and buy it back as Dillo Dirt. totally worth it for me.

i used to compost but it is kind of a pain.

for op: if you're composting for a garden you could consider row composting. Basically you just bury the material where you are planing your gardin. More info on the web.

Reply to
jthread

good for you dude. i'm really glad the city p/u's our clipping or i'd have a compost pile too. i had one at my house in round rock but because the yard was so large i filled my bin with about 4 mowings. i needed about 3 bins to keep up. i didn't want to mulch cause the lawn really needed to breath. it was choked from the previous owner cause he always mulched.

you have to keep after a compost pile. it needs green and brown waste, dirt, water, sunlight, turning. it's quite a chore.

I really like that barrel idea cause the turning is the really hard part. but in my old house that would of held about 1.5 mowings. and i mowed once a week in the summer.

Reply to
jthread

My situation is this:

I can back my truck up at the local landfill, and for $20, they will fill the back of an 8' bed with compost that they have made of organic materials they have made. This compost includes fertilizers and all the best of things my taxes can buy.

So why do I compost, you ask. So that I have a place to put my grass clippings, kitchen trash, and various items.

I thank all the people who were in on the discussion and had positive things to add on the topic. I learned a lot. About composting, and about posters.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

I simply pile the leaves up in three piles, and add discarded vegetable, and occasionally add bagged grass clippings in it (in case the grass is too long to be mulched). I just pile them up. I don't use any barrel or cage or anything.

I used to turn the compost piles and water them whenever I was done with mowing the lawn. This means I used to turn them every week or so. Now, I only turn them during fall when I add a lot quantity of leaves into the piles, and once in summer (to check their status). Otherwise, I don't turn them or water them at all. And the result is just as good. Yes, this takes 8 to 9 months to compose them. This is OK because I am not in a hurry. Basically, I just let the nature to take its course.

I mainly use the compost in the vegetable garden because the soil in there is very sandy. I need the compost to improve the soil texture. The soil in there is definitely getting quite well after I have added compost in there year after year for the past 7 years.

One possible problem that I can think of is that I can compose the leaves in less than one year because I use a garden vacuum to gather the leaves, and the garden vacuum grounds the leaves to small pieces, and that helps the composing to go fast. If the leaves were not grounded, the composing likely would take longer.

I could have used the free compost from the local government. But that would make my car dirty. If I had a pickup truck, I might have used the free compost from the local government.

By the way, I live in northern New Jersey.

Jay Chan

Reply to
Jay Chan

Good enough for flower beds and general landscape use, but not for vegetable gardens. You have no idea what herbicides & insecticides was used on those "organic materials" before they went to the landfill for composting. People put some really nasty things at really nasty rates on their yards before they cut, bag, and put on the curb for pickup.

Red

Reply to
Red

You think that's bad? Dillo Dirt includes treated sewage sludge. According to the web site they claim it's save for use in gardens. I only use it on my yard and flower beds but there is a chance we are eating food watered by effluent from a waste water treatment plant anyway.

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Oh well, it usually just gets dumped in a river anyway. In Las Cruces, NM the old treatment plant was so bad the effluent was dirtier than the influent. Dumped right into the Rio Grande and to the pecan, lettuce, onion, chili and all the other crops grown down there. They (Las Cruces) built a new plant back in the 70's. We used to go swimming in that river all the time.

Jim

Reply to
jthread

Mulching is good for the lawn as long as you don't take more than 1/3 of the grass height in a mowing. Also, if you aerate once every couple of years, your lawn will have no problem digesting the clippings. If the previous owner abused the lawn by letting the thatch build up, by improper mowing techniques, then you may want to have it power dethatched and overseeded at least once. You will be amazed by the results. Why would you want to remove the life giving nutrients from your lawn? That's what you do when you bag. You just have to allow your turf to digest the clippings by proper management and proper mowing practices.

Reply to
do_see

People put all those chemicals on their lawn, and then collect it all up and send it to the waste center, which in turn means they will have to put more chemicals on to replace what they removed. Stupid idea. Good for the chemical companies. Bad for your yard and the environment. I have no problem with using chemicals. It is the misuse and overuse that is the problem.

Reply to
do_see

I did just about everything you suggested. Except reseed. That yard looked like a park when I sold it. The realtor put "park like yard" in the desc. for the property. Thanks to Dillo Dirt, a lot of hard work, and water. I don't really want to discourage mulching. Just like everything: moderation is the key. When I sold it I made about $30k profit even after realtor fees on that one. :-) Not bad for an 18 month turn around. I sure hope the market hold here!!!

That yard really needed a break from mulching. Also. there is always plenty of mulch left on the yard even when I use my catcher.

Jim

Reply to
jthread

I've A/B'ed store bought compost and dillo dirt. So far Dillo Dirt "seems" a little better. But your point is valid and a lot of people here won't use it. I'm going to continue as long I have success. I like the idea of keeping the yard waste out of the land fills.

Jim

Reply to
jthread

Sometimes you just have to listen. Funny how people get so opinionated regarding a thing like compost. But, I've heard other people say negative things about DD. I go by how green and lush my yard is. Give and take.

Jim

Reply to
jthread

"Jay Chan" wrote

Here in Southern Utah, I basically live on top of a lava and caliche cap with red sandstone dunes on top of that. The garden was made by the builder, and irrigation put in. Thank goodness. But it looks like it was never mulched. I know I need to supplement it, and thusly, asking this question.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Great info that I would have never thought of.

Or found on Google.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Amazing how we survived Lawn Darts, potato guns, firecrackers, and all the stuff that kids today are "protected" from.

And there's nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us nothing wrong with us

SLAP!

Sorry.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Is it me, or has this thread made the corner and headed towards rational discourse?

Steve ;-)

Reply to
SteveB

Your mother in law sent you that FW: too?

Reply to
do_see

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