A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Organically Speaking... Composting; Gold in your Garden (TGH)

Black Gold.... Creating Compost...
Turn Your Garden Waste Into Garden Gold!

(From that guy they call The Garden Helper)

I had just gone to the archives to look for this .. came back and saw it already here!! You've been Busy Bill!!

This is the most vital gardening compotent I've have learned here!

Mine is still frozen in the center/!!!

Weezie as it thaws does it resume decomposing??

Well, in the beginning it's just wet mush..
So, I wait a bit.. and let it dry..
and then start adding some dried brown..
and start mixing it..

Ohhh Okay WEll IF we ever have a hard enough winter here and my compost freezes I'll remember that Weezie Thanks!!

I finally outsmarted myself a few years back..
I'd have to waitttttttt foreverrrrrrrrr for my
compost piles to thaw out and dry up a bit too,
to be able to even get to it to sift..

I was like waiting toooooo long...

So, I started putting some garbage bags'
*half filled* into my basement and then
come spring, I could let the piles thaw
as long as they needed to, cause I was already
sifting...
*and I like to sift in the early spring..
It works up a good sweat and workout and
keeps me warm in the cooler weather..
Then I'm not doing it in the midst a HOT SUMMER...

Ahhh HA Smart move, so come early spring you'll have some black gold ready to start you off right!!!

We mulch our grass clippings back into the turf, so I don't have much material to compost. My mom said to do it, and her lawn is wonderflully beautiful.

Would it be bad to add weeds to a compost pile? Will I end up with a ton of new weeds when I put the compost on the gardens?

Yes is the quick answer. Now if you got to the weeds before they created seeds and made sure no roots went into the compost you could do it. But, it's way to much hassle. Guess how I know? lol

is compost supposed to smell like horse manure??????

Mine never has Christy!

holy cr@p! mine smells like cr@p it stinks! whats it supost to smell like?

i spread it around the vines, wanted to give the cup n saucer a boost!
this is pretty much the first time i let it get black, i think i had to much water? cause i literately spread it on like icing on a cake! dont think i did it right but it was a real nice lookin black

that's definitely not compost of the conventional kind.

What did you do?

Compost should be 25 to 50% grass clippings and food scraps and such and then 50 to 75% leaves, dried grass or something else along that line. The ratio seems to be a matter of choice. I don't want mine to smell because I have neighbors so I probably come closest to 25/75% ratio. I used dried grass to make up for the lack of leaves during the summer.

And you should only add enough water so that the pile stays slightly sponge. NOT like a soggy sponge.

not sure of what % of what i put in there, i just tossed in whatever i came by, some grass clippings, vegies, some brown leaves, lots of coffee grounds n eggshells. the water thing i cant do much about cause its all in a tub thing n when it rains it dont drain well, the little holes in the botton tend to clog up, but im gonna enpty out hubs can n use it its bigger with a lock lid,

Well I guess your just making compost tea without waiting for the compost to decompose all the way before you add the water lol. Nothing wrong with that except the smell I guess.

I think the ratios/% were mostly just to keep the smell down and to cut down on the amount of weeds you would get when you used it.

My compost is like dark, brown dirt. It smells like rich soil. I don't measure anything sibyl but maybe you've had too much rain - which we have not.

I love that smell and the way it crumbles when you work it. It is wonderful to work with.

think you were right about the water, it dried up n didnt smell so bad, n its crumbly instead of pasty:}

that's good to hear.

Some of these were funny. Unpaid bills, burned oatmeal, dead bees and flies, wedding bouquets.

I started Putting Emmy's uneaten dog food in the compost too,,

YEah, some are very funny! Toenail clippings and harbor mud.

Wow.. I have never attempted to compost before.. the link on this site says not to use animal waste.. and alot of other things on that list up there.. meat, dairy products.. just to name a few.

I made a compost pile with leaves,weeds that haven't gone to seed,& kitchen wastes like eggshells.It's starting to decompose. I found earthworms in the pile the other day.

you all are lucky you all can make a compost heap or pile in my neighborhood you can have stuff like that on the outside you have to keep trashbins inside have to keep your lawn a certain hieght your not allowed to park a car on the lawn... stupid deed restrited communitys i hate them at least im allowed to have flowers..

You can use cow,sheep. chicken, rabbit manure, provided it has aged,
do not use fresh manure,

as far as meats( left overs ),I'll only add shrimp, fish, I don't use red meats, or poultry meat.( I use an old blender and chop up fish and eggshells and banana peels, veggie's, orange peels etc.. so it will break down faster in the compost :wink:)

as long as you have 25 percent green products which is what the above is, and up 75 percent brown, paper, leaves, lint, etc, it will keep the gnats, bugs, smell to a low minimum,

I even add a small amount of bonemeal to my compost every three turns of it, but that's just my preference

I better add more grass clippings & turn over my compost pile!

Well, what time of year is best to start one? We are going thru alot of oranges and bananas right now.. so I would have those peels.. what else would be good to start..??

I stated my pile up two three weeks ago. I think it's best to start one in spring or fall(in MY area).

you can start a pile any time of the year. if you are in an area that freezes, it will just freeze until time for thaw. that's fine. and you start it with what ever you have and add as you can. bananas and oranges are considered green, so you would want to mix them with brown which could be leaves or shredded paper. 3 parts brown, one part green.

I have a bucket filled with lawn clippings.When I felt the grass, it felt hot. I added some more grass,leaves&kitchen waste to my pile today.

it will get hot as it decomposes. the chemical changes cause the heat. that's a good thing.

Ok, so 3:1 is the ratio to stick with?? I need to find a list of what is considered green and what is brown.. I will refer back to the list in this thread.. so how long before it all turns to dirt?? A long time?

And should I do what someone else said, put bigger stuff in a blender?? Or does that matter??

It's 25% green to 75% brown

Green is foods, peelings. eggshells, grass clipping,left over coffee, sodas. things like that,,primarily things that have natural moisture of some kind,
Browns are paper products, shredded newspaper, white envelopes. napkins, browned leaves, stale dry cereal, stale dry dog food,stale bread hot dog/hamburger buns. biscuts etc,..

extras are coffee grinds, tea bags, lint, hair from brushes, etc,

Depending on how small the pieces are when you put them in and how your weather is ,,,if it's cold it will freeze and you'll wait until it thaws.. if it warmer you'll want to turn( stir it) once a week or twice a week, and depending on what you store it in,,
I have a very large rubber maid trash can with a lid,, I made holes on the sides and bottom, because it has to have air circulation. I fill mine to halfway( eventually) but continue to 'turn' it once or twice a week . I also chop up Green smaller so it will decompose faster, and I let brown leaves/breads dry so I can "crunch ' them up when I put them in,, That is my preference :wink: Because 1/2 trash can makes about 60 lbs of soil I want it to compost quickly so I can start another batch, When the compost is black and has a sweet rich smell to it it is ready to sift. The bigger pieces that didn't go thru the sifter I set aside until I'm finished sifting,, then take thosebigger pieces place back into the trash can as a "starter" for my next batch, I only fill half way because it's get to heavy for me to deal with,
BTW I bought a deep fat fryer basket at a restaurant supply store to sift with and I sift over a wheelbarrow, it just makes it easier to take to the area I want it to be tilled in at ,

Mine takes about 6 weeks. probably because the lid keeps the heat in so it "cooks" faster Tho there are open methods by bulding a box to keep it in reasonable controled quarter,, where as some choice to not build anything to store it in and just have a pile,, tho I would advice to have it piled away from the house,, as it could draw rodent,

my pile is in the open nxt to my garden

Thanks for all that information Angelblossom!!

What are the benefits to having it in your trash can as opposed to Enrique's method of having it in a freestanding pile??

I have a average size yard, and I did have an open one and it attracted rodents so I said OHHHHHHHHH Heck NO! I then got the trash can and found it holds the heat in more as I wanted it done quickly and here in TX with warmer weather it works pretty good,, I just wish I would have got a smaller trash can , I can't reach all the way to the bottom so I use a shovel sometimes,,

I don't have any lumber to build a bin;my dad won't buy me any.