GeorgiaPeachez

Compost Update

Here we are 5 weeks later and I have compost!

The only thing, which you can see, that didn't break down are these pieces of old coco liners that I put in.  I can easily pull those out. 

This spinning, tumbling composter was a huge success.  I have already been gathering and setting aside material for my next batch. 

I just thought I would throw in a group shot of all the concrete leaves that I brought home from TN.  This picture gives a good sense of the scale, almost as big as a smooth fox terrier!

I also briefly mentioned my worm composter before and now I have pictures of my new one!

For years I had my worm compost going in a plastic container.  I just drilled holes in a plastic storage container.  I moved my worms from VA to NJ and on to Cincinnati and back to VA.  I've had plans ever since returning to VA to upgrade to a much bigger system.

Because I live in a moderate climate I am able to have the worms outdoors year round.  I made this out of cinder blocks and some wood that I found on the side of the road (thanks neighbor!).  You can see there are two sides. 

How this works is I start out with worms on one side.  Once they have digested all the scraps and bedding and filled it up with lots of worm castings, then I will start over on the other side.

First I will put in fresh bedding and new veggie scraps.  Then I will remove the dividing board.  The worms will migrate over to the new bedding, leaving the castings behind.  I will then reinsert the board, harvest the castings and just continue switching back and forth.  Slick!

Here I have put in wet shredded paper and a little dirt on one side.

On top of the bedding goes the food scraps that I have been collecting and keeping in my freezer.  I just throw the scraps into a bag and put them in the freezer (where they don't stink!)  When the bag is full I will feed it to the worms.

On top of this goes a dry layer of shredded paper or hay.  This will keep down the flies and keep the composter from smelling.

Once I get all the layers ready, then I dig down into the bedding and add the worms.  Just two cups of worms will soon become hundreds of worms.  Worms castings are like black gold in the garden.  They recycle all my veggie scraps, eggshells and shrimp shells.      

Timing the Tumble - Week 1

Time for my first update since starting my first batch of compost in the spinning compost tumbler on June 6.  It's actually been just a bit over a week.

To review, I started with the bin full of a mix about 60/40 of green to brown.

You can see the bin is almost completely full.

I've been spinning it about 10 times once every day and I have missed only one day.

After 11 days the volume has decreased dramatically and the mixture now looks almost competely black. 

I think I have a good mix of green to brown because it seems just wet enough without being too wet or dry.  Also the mix does not smell.  A bad smell would be an indication of too much green or too wet. 

In an effort to be a good recycler, I try to save all my kitchen scraps for the compost.  I also have a worm composter and that is were most of the kitchen scraps go along with most of my shredded junk mail.

Saving kitchen scraps could be a messy business but I have a GREAT solution for that.  There are lots of catalogs out there with fancy, pricey containers for kitchen scraps, even with charcoal filters for the smell.  Overkill.

Just save the scraps into a (recycled) plastic grocery bag.  Stick um in the freezer.  You can pull the bag out and keep adding to it until it is full.  Then dump the whole frozen contents into your composter.  The freeze/thaw process helps to speed up the composting by breaking down the food and frozen scraps DONT SMELL!

Here's the bag I've got going in my freezer right now.  This bag is getting full and it's about time to feed it to the worms.

I'll tell ya all about my worms another day.

I'm Timing the Tumble

I recently posted a picture of the compost tumbler that I "inherited" from my FIL but here is my baby again.

I am thrilled to have it, I have wanted one forever but I was just a bit hesitant to get one.  My main objection is the cost.  My tumbler came from  here.  There are many types like this on the market and none of them are cheap. 

Is it worth the cost?  You can pile up garden waste in the corner of the yard and do nothing to it and eventually you will have compost.  If you are willing to wait a few years. 

Can the tumbler make compost in 8 weeks or so as the literature claims?

I'm going to track it and see how long it takes.  I'm going to post brief updates from time to time to let you know how it goes.

I started a batch on Sunday.  The instructions say put in a mix of green to brown ingredients about a 50/50 ratio not to exceed a 75/25 ratio.  My mix is about 60/40 of green to brown.  MrPeachez mowed the grass so almost all my green is grass clippings with a few kitchen scraps thrown in like artichoke leaves and watermelon rind.  To that I added a bunch of dead plant clippings that have all turned brown, some old, old coco liners, some old potting soil from last years pots and a bunch of paper from my shredder. 

I've been spinning away and the mix is looking pretty good.  The bin is full now, but by the end the volume will decrease by 50%.  I'll keep you posted.

Now, after looking at garden garbage I'm going to put up a few pretties from the garden.