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| In an effort to be frugal I've gotten in to gardening and composting.
I decided to purchase a 35 gallon, Rubbermaid bin because it was only $15 and would keep my compost contained for a toddler friendly yard. I drilled countless holes in the bin for air supply and have started filling it with cut up twigs, shredded paper, old leaves, dead grass, tea bags and kitchen scraps. I have it sitting where it will get about 6 hours of sunlight but can be easily moved to get much more or much less. How long before I can expect for something to start happening and how long before I can expect to have some useable compost? I'm hoping 3 months but I don't want to get my hopes up if that's not realistic. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by sunnyside1 z6/SW Mo. (My Page) on Thu, Mar 31, 11 at 20:23
| "Toddler friendly yard" got me. I know just what you mean. Been there, done that, years and years ago. lol If it were my bin, I would be sure there was *enough* moisture (wrung-out sponge), trying to keep a 3 parts green, 1 part browns mix, then put the lid on tight and roll it around every few days to get everything mixed. Good luck, wynell! |
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- Posted by lovestogrow (My Page) on Thu, Mar 31, 11 at 22:28
| I think I may be a bit mixed up. I was thinking 3 pts brown to one part green. |
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- Posted by sunnyside1 z6/SW Mo. (My Page) on Thu, Mar 31, 11 at 23:23
| You are soooo right, lovestogrow. It's late. Thank you -- Sunny |
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| Green = Nitrogen source, Brown = Carbon source, and the rule of thumb is 3 parts browns to 1 part green. You may wish to visit the site linked below. The sun has little to do with what your compost bin does, except you will tend to loose too much moisture because of the sun. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Online Composting tutorial
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| So is 3 months a reasonable time frame to have a usuable product? |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Fri, Apr 1, 11 at 21:36
| Eh. It depends on how much time you spend on it. I personally don't go running out during a rain storm or a freeze to turn the pile, in fact forget Dec-March. That kinda cuts down on the 3 month plan. I do have an old tumbler that I got at the dump for $5 that I fill and tumble for a month or so, then pour into the regular compost bin. This seems to get things going faster than just dumping and turning by hand (It also saves my back!) I also have a leaf shredder that I use to suck up all the neighbors' leaves and store to use as needed throughout the year. Good luck!Take it easy! Nancy |
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- Posted by piranhafem (My Page) on Sat, Apr 2, 11 at 1:28
| 3 months may be overly optimistic. After 3 months, I usually have something more like "composted mulch". My kitchen waste breaks down but I still have a lot of twigs, wood chip bits, hay and straw bits visible. You would have to shred your leaves and twigs pretty fine to have any hope of having them totally break down in 3 months. 6 months is more realistic. I hope you prove me wrong! :-) --Maureen |
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