Random Composting Idea-Wintering compost

[Stuccolow]

Like usual, I have a lot of compostable material that I need to take care of in a very mafia like way. I got to make this stuff disappear, capish?

What I would like to do is, toss everything in the tomato garden, which is fenced off to keep the dogs out. Grind it all up, toss in some ground dirt that we're going to have to dig up and move soon. Cover the whole thing with black plastic with hole for air and water.

Do you think that that will help to break down my garden waste faster than just leaving it out and poking it with a stick every so often? Which I have been doing for the last couple of years. Generally come spring, it's not 100% broken down, but good to add in the bottom of raised beds.

I asked Jim if we could dig a trough to bury the compost, and he laughed at me. Yea, I generally think our little plot is much bigger than it is.

[eric rochow]

i think the plastic will help, if the stuff is mixed up well and the leaves do not mat together. or just make Jim dig a trough.

[Mike Szewczyk]

At the Illinois Alternative Energy fair a couple of years ago, someone had a product they were pitching. I don't think it was intended to be used to make compost, but rather as a "trash eater". You buried it into the ground and dropped stuff in there. I think worms would help break it down.

I'm trying to find what it was that I saw, it was a neat idea. They said it wasn't meant for creating compost, but the ground around them usually became very fertile, which makes sense.

I'll post a link as soon as I find it.

[Mike Szewczyk]

This is it: Solarcone

It's a Kitchen waste digester.

There are also these, which I am seriously considering: Doggie Dooley pet waste digester.

[Stuccolow]

You can't use the Doggie Dooley any where near where you plant food crops. The waste and enzyme digester contaminate surrounding soil. I can't remember the exact dimensions, but it was bigger than my little city lot.

I buy bio-bags that decompose at the land fill. I want to invent a doggie toilet that can connect with the drain, but so far I'm stumped.

Thanks for the linkage!

[Mike Szewczyk]

Which one contaminates? Or is it both? I'm interested in knowing more about that!

[Stuccolow]

In the instuctions for the Doggie Dooley, it says to "use common sense" when planting near a veg/fruit garden as well as to check with local laws about placing near a well.

If I had a ton of space I would have a doggie dooley, but I don't.

Since I have to dispose of my dog's waste through the land fill, I buy bags that decompose quickly. I have an image in my head of a land fill in 20 years just filled with plastic grocery bags filled with dog poo. Ew

[Mike Szewczyk]

OK, that makes sense. But you were referring to the Doggie Dooley, yes? Not necessarily about the Solarcone?

If we keep the Solarcone filled with kitchen scraps only, do you think the same applies?

[Stuccolow]

Oh, sorry. I'm just talking about the dooley! The solarcone, I would assume, be fine just about anywhere.

[Jess]

I do this, but it's also where the chickens run, so they help break it down AND add their poo. All that scratching and pooing do a great job over the winter.

I also run over my leaves with the mulcher mower and dig them into the garden before the ground freezes. Sometimes I mix in the icky shavings from the chicken coop as well. All of it has worked great.

[Stuccolow]

When I dug the trough in my garden, I noticed this. When we first did the garden in 2007, I laid down some sand and placed stepping stones in it. I didn't put much compost or topsoil down. Fall 2007, I tried Lasagna Gardening and tossed down a bunch of compost and yard waste.

Every year since, I've put down yard waste and let it all compost down. You can see how much stuff has built up in my garden. I dug most of it out and put it in my other beds in the back yard.

Then I filled the trough with wet compost, topped it with dry yard debris, and covered it over with dirt in the garden. I used up all my yard waste and nasty wet compost from kitchen waste.

[Jess]

Beautiful cross-section! I love how dark and rich and luscious the garden is above the sand!

[Jamie]

If you have lots of leaves, shred them up with the lawnmower or the vacuum part of a blower/vac if you have one to reduce the volume and increase the surface area of the pieces - thus speeding up the composting process. Layer or mix together the leaves with kitchen scraps, grass clippings, or blood meal if you dont have enough green stuff. Make sure you get the leaves somewhat wet as you lay down the layers. Like some of the other posters, I cover my pile with a tarp to keep the heat and moisture in an larger critters out, thus helping the pile to heat up. I tend not to turn my piles much, may once every few months.

I also have five other piles: three big wire enclosures for leaves I collect from the neighbors. These piles take about a year or more to decompose correctly, as I dont chop all the leaves up first and maybe turn them once. I also have another "hot" pile that I alternate with my other hot pile. Plus I have a bad plastic bin my brother gave me that tends to act more like a wormery.

I do not do the trench method as my Virginia clay makes it difficult. Most of my beds are raised. I also tend not to go with the gimmicks, like compost activators - just through in some existing compost or manure to get things going.