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Sat, Nov 12, 11 at 21:24
| I have the regular compost bin that I put most things in, then I have a tumbler (really old) that I put mostly garden oldies, and finally I have a bin that I put very woody or questionable (tomato) stuff.
I'm thinking of putting the tomato stuff and woody stuff out in the field to decompose and not use it for the garden. Then I can use the bin for my school garden. Thoughts on tomato plants? Woody stuff? Nancy |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Sat, Nov 12, 11 at 22:38
| Hi Nancy, There are many schools of thought ,but my opinion is use them in your garden, it isn't going to hurt anything if they are "finished", composting. I have 80 8' tall tomato plants in my compost bins as we speak, and the frost caught me ,so I have about a thousand pounds of tomatoes in there too, makes for a lovely hot compost,MHO, YMMV ;-)
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| Jon, what happened to your super duper Harbor Freight shredder. Those leaves do not look shredded to me. Your youtube video convinced me to buy one. I have been shredding leaves all day. |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Sun, Nov 13, 11 at 0:32
| Hi yolos, That is funny ;-) I only shred when I want more compost...fast... ;-) But right now all of my beds are topped off, completely filled to the rim, and I won't need compost until next May, when I plant my Summer crops, I have 2500 Walla Walla Onions and 2500 Garlic's planted and I am done until harvest time ;-) Without the need for shredding, I take the lazy man's way and just mix them in with all of my greens and they will be done ,within a month or so... |
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| The tomato plants that grow in your garden took in nutrients from that garden plot so if you throw them any place put into that garden plot, or your compst bin, those nutrients will simply be lost to your garden. The only reason to not do that would be it the plants were diseased, maybe. I have seen some studies over the years where people have composted diseased plants and have not had problems with those plant diseases in later years. |
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| I agree with kimmsr that what comes out of the garden must at least get replaced. I would do separate composts, but one would be for active, fast composting (shredded input, balanced green/brown mix, regular turning) and another for slow composting (woody stuff, tomato vines, perennial roots, "used" potting soil, etc), that would only get seasonal turning and pretty much be allowed to slowly decompose for a year or more. This will take care of most of your potential problems with these types of inputs. Composting slowly would best be done in your field, providing the bin you want for the school compost, but it is unlikely that you wouldn't be able to use the result in the garden. |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Sat, Nov 19, 11 at 20:01
| Sounds good! Thanks! Nancy |
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