Composting

[DevaKai]

:goorganic:
I've been saving up fruit:banana: and veggie scraps to start a compost pile.

Is there anyone who could teach me the science behind composting and how to compost?


:Thanks:

[NudeTea]

Wishing you fabulous results!
Composting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composting)

[nicofrog]

Hi ;
Great, lets get started soon!
I have a semi commercial composting facility in Green valley where we handle up to 500 lbs of waste a week.
I can show quick and easy ways to set up a hot, or Worm composting systems, give you a cup-full of worms or sell you a pound.
I also have worm-bins for sale.
[email protected]
707 684 0341
I can also recommend Rick Kaye at www.compostclub.org for a slightly
fancier wooden worm-bin design.I dont know if he sells them or just teaches classes,you can go on their website to find out!
Good luck and good
IDEA Nico

:goorganic:
I've been saving up fruit:banana: and veggie scraps to start a compost pile.

Is there anyone who could teach me the science behind composting and how to compost?


:Thanks:

[DevaKai]

Hi Nico,
I was wondering where Green Valley is located?:):

I would love it if you could show me quick and easy ways to set up a hot, or Worm composting system. I have a big pile that needs to be composted soon before it get's funky...lol

Thanks,

~D



Hi ;
Great, lets get started soon!
I have a semi commercial composting facility in Green valley where we handle up to 500 lbs of waste a week.
I can show quick and easy ways to set up a hot, or Worm composting systems, give you a cup-full of worms or sell you a pound.
I also have worm-bins for sale.
[email protected]
707 684 0341
I can also recommend Rick Kaye at www.compostclub.org for a slightly
fancier wooden worm-bin design.I dont know if he sells them or just teaches classes,you can go on their website to find out!
Good luck and good
IDEA Nico

[lifequest]

The Santa Rosa Recycling and Collection (garbage company) offers a Smith & Hawken BioStack Composter for $69 - they say its for much less than retail. Still have to check up on that...

Their phone # is 586-1478.

[Hot Compost]

the most educational things i have found re composting is the class taught by Will Bakx at Santa Rosa Junior College. it's in the sustainable agriculture department and starts sometime in April. it's a 4 week class.

Will was part of the Soil Science faculty at Berkeley & now runs the facility at Sonoma Compost. they take in 300-350 tons of yard "waste" a day and turn it into soil using hot composting techniques.

it is possible to learn the technique by replicating what Will teaches in the class. basically, to construct a large pile about 8 feet by 8 feet by 6 feet, with the correct ingredients (so, 8+ cubic yards of stuff. a few tons.) then, to watch it heat up to 160 degrees F and see the dramatic reduction in size of the pile and is de-composes.

once you have been through that experience, you know the core knowledge of composting. if you happen to toss on food scraps (with exceptions), they will be digested by the many bacteria that make the compost pile happen.

https://busapp02.santarosa.edu/SRWeb/SR_ScheduleOfClasses.aspx?Mode=text&TermID=20093&CourseDiscipline=SUSAG&Course=12852

[wulfworks]

The lazy way to compost is to simply throw your scraps in a pile and toss some soil on top. After a month or two, you might want to take a fork and turn it. Nature has been doing this for thousands of years. If you want faster compost, turn it more often and add some manure (from an herbivore, NOT Dog, Cat, or Human!) Don't put any meat or cooked food in it, or you will attract rats and/or create nasty odors.

Composting doesn't have to be as complicated as some people make it. Common sense will tell you to add soil if it is getting too compacted (as when you add lawn clippings), to water it when it gets too dry, and to turn it if things are not breaking down properly.

Worm bins are also a great way to compost fruit and veg. scraps.
Earth thanks you!

[Sciguy]

Dear Wulfworks:
I'm glad you added to the conversation that composting is so natural that you can't even prevent it from happening because Nature rots things by itself. I would add that all of the details that people tend to add in are offputting to new entrants. Getting the exact temperature, the correct humidity, the right amount of turning, buying a special container - maybe great for a top flight commercial operation doing the best there is but ordinary people can get rotten and soil worthy organic matter much more easily by just making a pile, turning it sometimes and letting nature take its course. Then they can add it the more careful touches later on.

I wish however that you had not added to the ferment by telling people not to add meat, cooked or otherwise. This is where concentrated nitrogen comes from, a very necessary ingredient in compost. The only source I can think of for this idea circulating so commonly is that we are afflicted by creeping vegetarianism or hatred of meat. If vegetarians don't want to eat meat, that is one thing, but if their neighbors or friends still do, to exclude it from compost makes no sense at all. If meat is buried in leaves or grass or cooking compost, especially if it is cut up into small pieces, I can't imagine the danger that it poses of rats or other wildlife tearing down the fences to get at it. Especially in the country. And there should be no odor issue since compost should be aerobic. Besides, what if a wild animal does snag a piece? Are we at war with wildlife now?

As for cat and dogshit and even the human variety, I would be curious to hear how someone who has actually studied the topic scientifically would weigh in. I would think that it all belongs in the compost pile. I wonder what Will Baxx has to say. Maybe we need to culture dung beetles as a precompost process.

Sciguy



The lazy way to compost is to simply throw your scraps in a pile and toss some soil on top. After a month or two, you might want to take a fork and turn it. Nature has been doing this for thousands of years. If you want faster compost, turn it more often and add some manure (from an herbivore, NOT Dog, Cat, or Human!) Don't put any meat or cooked food in it, or you will attract rats and/or create nasty odors.

Composting doesn't have to be as complicated as some people make it. Common sense will tell you to add soil if it is getting too compacted (as when you add lawn clippings), to water it when it gets too dry, and to turn it if things are not breaking down properly.

Worm bins are also a great way to compost fruit and veg. scraps.
Earth thanks you!

[Sylph]

I'm glad you added to the conversation that composting is so natural that you can't even prevent it from happening because Nature rots things by itself. I would add that all of the details that people tend to add in are offputting to new entrants
Good advice, just start piling it up and wait for nature to take her course!
About the meat and other food scraps. My dogs will go to great lengths to get into the compost if there is something yummy in there. Very dirty, nasty dogs as a result! Bad for their health, too! A really secure compost bin would be necessary if I added meat. In the past, we've had rats get into garbage and compost. I'm out in the country, but I would imagine rats could find their way to a city compost heap, as well.
If you can really protect your compost pile from critters, go right ahead and add meat, bones, food scraps, it'll all turn into compost.
Reading up on composting techniques can speed up the process...turning and layering really help.
Also, having at least two piles going is nice, so one can start being used (when it's 'done')while you are still adding to the second.

[Aphelion1182]

Does anyone know if it's bad to add moldy bread to compost? From what I know about mold and soil (which isn't much), I don't think it would be a problem but since I saw this post I figured I'd ask to see if anyone can throw some knowledge at me.

[nicofrog]

Yes ; you can actually(contrary to urban mythology) compost anything.
feel free to contact me as to how.
I was afraid this thread would start to bring out the "expurts"
and the list of composting rules....they even print them on crummy compost bins that barely work!
Do not be swayed by ignorance that repeats itself !

My credentials??? I have been composting(everything) for 30 years,I read all the books, went on Line and did Battle with U.C. and U. C. Davis agricultural extension and they finally admitted that the rules are purely cosmetic! And naturally, and sensibly enough, they fear you will go ahead without learning how! like we do dancing!!
Essentially they are saying you can make a car ,but no wheels or engine! that would be dangerous!
My compost does not stink, nor does it attract vermin of any kind,I do hot,then worm processing, and I taste the finished product if you like to demonstrate the beauty of the system.

oh and mind you the health dept probably has five books of laws and constraints about compost!! don't even try to sell anything with that word on it unless you want to spend a million dollars on equipment you don't need.
See ,it all started with the evil garbage cartells,compost they say is 'one third of our waste'(their fortune) they lie gently, it is 2/3 to 3/4 of the weight of our trash, its weight the haulers get payed for. they felt this green thing coming a long time ago, and they knew full well anyone could compost in their own back yard! they stood to lose Millions...
so they called U.C. and the health dept, and started writing rules...hey thars BACTERIA in thar.. ooooh thats GERMS isn't it? you could get sick!
start a plauge ! Then theres rats and coons dogs and cats, hell birds and alligators!!! Actually the average kids butt has just as many bacteria, and so handy and close bye! Maybe thay should ban kids as well!
So now they run the OFFISHUL Compost co. etc. Bless them ,no fuss....
just know you can do your own thing, and if you do it right, it will be fun
and you will learn a lot about nature.You can get books and on-line info
ignore the rules.
Nico 684 0341
Actually, there IS a category of materials that should never get in compost that sometimes does, soil lighteners like PERLITE, and VERMICULITE
they are injuryous to worms, and discourage worm population, somthing wise gardeners avoid. Red Lava is OK for soil lightener, and provides minerals over the years. The dust from those materials is very dangerous to breathe as well.


Does anyone know if it's bad to add moldy bread to compost? From what I know about mold and soil (which isn't much), I don't think it would be a problem but since I saw this post I figured I'd ask to see if anyone can throw some knowledge at me.

[amalia]

Can any of you compost experts suggest how to get rid of rats in the compost? I've seen at least one fearless rat sitting on top of my compost within the closed compost bin. I suspect that there might be a rat nest somewhere in the compost.
Any advice is appreciated!

Amalia



Hi ;
Great, lets get started soon!
I have a semi commercial composting facility in Green valley where we handle up to 500 lbs of waste a week.
I can show quick and easy ways to set up a hot, or Worm composting systems, give you a cup-full of worms or sell you a pound.
I also have worm-bins for sale.
[email protected]
707 684 0341
I can also recommend Rick Kaye at www.compostclub.org for a slightly
fancier wooden worm-bin design.I dont know if he sells them or just teaches classes,you can go on their website to find out!
Good luck and good
IDEA Nico

[Sara S]

Well, to keep mice and rats away from my house and porch, I have been using Bounce dryer sheets for a long time now, and they really work well. After I put a bunch around the back porch, for the first time in years I didn't have mice nests in the corners out there.

I was assuming that it was raccoons who were digging up my compost, but maybe it's rats; I'm going to put some of the dryer sheets around the compost area today, re-cover it, and see what happens! (As far as I know, they don't deter the raccoons.)

Sara




Can any of you compost experts suggest how to get rid of rats in the compost? I've seen at least one fearless rat sitting on top of my compost within the closed compost bin. I suspect that there might be a rat nest somewhere in the compost.
Any advice is appreciated!

Amalia

[Yubajeff]

I wonder what would happen if you sprinkled cayenne or hot chili powder throughout the pile? Do rodents like spicy food?


Well, to keep mice and rats away from my house and porch, I have been using Bounce dryer sheets for a long time now, and they really work well. After I put a bunch around the back porch, for the first time in years I didn't have mice nests in the corners out there.

I was assuming that it was raccoons who were digging up my compost, but maybe it's rats; I'm going to put some of the dryer sheets around the compost area today, re-cover it, and see what happens! (As far as I know, they don't deter the raccoons.)

Sara