Tips for Compost Beginner

always look at the LSU Ag Center site first

LINK

Know what goes in it and what doesn’t. If you do a traditional compost pile, keep it away from the house or structures. Compost tends to attract wood cockroaches and other critters people find icky.

hungryone is right on the mark with forgetting about those tumblers.

I have mine on the ground in a corner of my yard and in it goes all organic kitchen waste----coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable/fruit trimmings, tea bags and even shredded paper from mail that I run through my shredder.

I also put in grass clippings, any waste from my garden when I pull plants, oak leaves and I will head over to a local horse stable to collect manure, straw and wood shavings when they muck the stalls.

Keep it turned from time to time and keep it somewhat damp so it doesn't dry out. That helps in it decaying faster.

Bottom line is you want about an even amount of "greens and browns" in your compost pile for it to work well.

Oh, and if you use worms for fishing, they are a good byproduct of a healthy compost pile. I pull worms out of mine that are huge.


ETA: Also, read up on how to make "compost tea" to use to water your plants with nutrient rich liquid. It's easy to make and all you really need are a nice size bucket, an aquarium aerator pump and some composted material and other ingredients offered in various recipes on the net. You can look them over and pick and choose what you want to put in yours.

I live on a hobby farm so take this as it is. We pile hay from the duck and geese house and chips and poo from the coop. All weeds and bush trimmings. We do not put garden waste in there, we burn it. Also burn anything with obvious fungus. We never use it all so I take the bucket on the tractor and dump what is left on the new pile. There are always two going. When I drive by I turn the new pile over with the bucket...several times a year...works like a charm and smells amazing.

If you do it right, everything you put it on will love you two weeks later...

I bought the large cement mixer from Harbor Freight. Painted it black inside and out to absorb more heat. Add contents and tumble every day or two. It may make a small batch, but you can make many batches quickly. Turning the compost is vital, and with a big pile it is quite a task. Many people do not turn it like they should. I just flip a switch and let the motor do the work.

OP you inspired me to build a respectable bin instead of the leaf piles I had all over the yard. I screwed four wood pallets together in a shady spot, raked up all my rotten piles, pulled up a bunch of weeds and clover, shredded some cardboard boxes and watered the whole thing down

I also tossed in a bag of composted manure I had. I picked up tons of earthworms from my piles of rotted leaves and I had an old trampoline on the ground near my barn that was covered in a few inches of rotten leaves so I have about half the bin filled up with a good start. Wet the bin down every few inches or so

so there you go...compost bin 101