Topic: Does anyone here compost?

[Oniya]

So, a while back, my sister deposited a home composter in our back yard.  After staring at it for a long time, and plotting to get rid of it, I finally decided (last year) to start using it.  I've been tossing in all our veggie scraps, my coffee grounds, the odd paper towel (with the coffee grounds), and yard debris (mostly weeds and vines).  It's on grass (as the company website suggests), but for some reason, things just don't seem to be - well - composting.  If I peer in the vents on the sides, I see last summer's vines apparently still intact.  I was hoping that after a year, I'd have something to show for it.

[Nymphadora]

It does take a while... You have to turn it with a stiff rake or pitch fork. Kind of blend it around. It needs oxygen to work. It may also need more moisture.

This has a lot of great info all on one page. http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html

:)

[Oniya]

I do have a pokey-stick that I've been stabbing at it with occasionally.  We have had a lot of rain (which has been annoying with the whole 'yard work' chore) and the thing does have actual vent slots in the sides.  I'll try giving it a good mashing this weekend - maybe chuck a gallon of water over the top.

[RedRose]

So I don't have that at home but a relative does, and apparently some hold you need a lot, or a little moisture. Some regularly add littles stones and soil. My relative definitely composts meat and bones.

[BitterSweet]

So I don't have that at home but a relative does, and apparently some hold you need a lot, or a little moisture. Some regularly add littles stones and soil. My relative definitely composts meat and bones.

I've been composting for some years now.  I seriously don't recommend home composters add meat, bones, dairy or anything from an animal besides washed egg shells (which I do recommend) - most home composters don't get hot enough to destroy the dangerous bacteria that comes from decomposing meat.  Plus, the meat will attract more obnoxious scavengers (rats, raccoons, etc).

Generally, composting needs 'brown' and 'green' - green is weeds, yard clippings etc.  Brown is coffee grounds, soil, leaf compost etc.  And water, and to be genuinely turned a few times a year.  Depending on the heat in your area (composting doesn't work well if it's cold), it can take a season or more.  If the things you've put in the composter are especially tough, it can take longer.

[Oniya]

Ours has a label on the top that says 'no meat, bones, or fat' - and since we have possums (that I've seen), I'm not inclined to tempt fate.  I do save my eggshells, dry them out thoroughly, and crumble them.  I'm admittedly new to this so I'm learning as much as I can.  (I didn't ask for the thing in the first place, and it didn't come with a manual - my sister is the type that brings home 'things that look useful' that other people discard.  >.<)