The wife got onto this green California kick of eliminating the (gray)
trash can altogether in favor of (blue) recycling and (green) compost.

She seems to think she can harvest her compost by the summer, which she
started on the first of January by daily collecting the household food
waste (bread, pop tarts, cereal, leftover chocolate candies, chicken bones,
fish skin, pizza crusts, eggshells, pasta, too-crisp bacon, etc.) in a
kitchen tupperware container.

Once a day she dumps that into a large green bucket outside, and throws a
pile of soil on top to cover it from the animals and sprays water over the
top to soak it. The green compost bucket is about chest high so the chance
of actually mixing the compost is slim at best.

That's all well and good - but having no experience with compost, I wonder
how long it will take for her to harvest the results.

She seems to think by summer it will be ready.
I think it will take much longer than that.

The question is: How long will it be before compost is usable for
gardening?

Note: We live in the northern California arid climate (it won't rain for 10
months and then in the winter, it will very lightly rain for a few weeks at
a time). Once in a blue moon there will be a downpour - but that's rare so
she'll have to keep wetting it herself.

sam bruno writes:

The wife got onto this green California kick of eliminating the (gray)
trash can altogether in favor of (blue) recycling and (green) compost.

She seems to think she can harvest her compost by the summer, which she
started on the first of January by daily collecting the household food
waste (bread, pop tarts, cereal, leftover chocolate candies, chicken bones,
fish skin, pizza crusts, eggshells, pasta, too-crisp bacon, etc.) in a
kitchen tupperware container.

Once a day she dumps that into a large green bucket outside, and throws a
pile of soil on top to cover it from the animals and sprays water over the
top to soak it. The green compost bucket is about chest high so the chance
of actually mixing the compost is slim at best.

That's all well and good - but having no experience with compost, I wonder
how long it will take for her to harvest the results.

She seems to think by summer it will be ready.
I think it will take much longer than that.

The question is: How long will it be before compost is usable for
gardening?

Note: We live in the northern California arid climate (it won't rain for 10
months and then in the winter, it will very lightly rain for a few weeks at
a time). Once in a blue moon there will be a downpour - but that's rare so
she'll have to keep wetting it herself.

You've got some bad things in the compost, chocolate, bones, bacon aren't good.
No meat products and I'm not sure about chocolate but it sounds wrong.

I mainly compost leaves, the coffee grounds and other household items
barely make a dent. A good portion of the pile breaks down from fall to
mid-summer.

--
Dan Espen

On Jan 9, 5:05*pm, Dan Espen wrote:
sam bruno writes:
The wife got onto this green California kick of eliminating the (gray)
trash can altogether in favor of (blue) recycling and (green) compost.

She seems to think she can harvest her compost by the summer, which she
started on the first of January by daily collecting the household food
waste (bread, pop tarts, cereal, leftover chocolate candies, chicken bones,
fish skin, pizza crusts, eggshells, pasta, too-crisp bacon, etc.) in a
kitchen tupperware container.

Once a day she dumps that into a large green bucket outside, and throws a
pile of soil on top to cover it from the animals and sprays water over the
top to soak it. The green compost bucket is about chest high so the chance
of actually mixing the compost is slim at best.

That's all well and good - but having no experience with compost, I wonder
how long it will take for her to harvest the results.

She seems to think by summer it will be ready.
I think it will take much longer than that.

The question is: How long will it be before compost is usable for
gardening?

Note: We live in the northern California arid climate (it won't rain for 10
months and then in the winter, it will very lightly rain for a few weeks at
a time). Once in a blue moon there will be a downpour - but that's rare so
she'll have to keep wetting it herself.

You've got some bad things in the compost, chocolate, bones, bacon aren't good.
No meat products and I'm not sure about chocolate but it sounds wrong.

I mainly compost leaves, the coffee grounds and other household items
barely make a dent. *A good portion of the pile breaks down from fall to
mid-summer.

--
Dan Espen- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The above is right.
You can add woodshavings, paper, shredded hedge clippings, lawn
mowings, weeds, leaves.
Something on the subject there.
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/orga...compost_pf.php

Stuff like she is using rots down to nothing, smells bad, attracts
flies and vermin. It can be put in but only as small part of the
above stuff.

Time taken depends on temperature. Ranges from three months to six.

On Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:05:07 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:

chocolate, bones, bacon aren't good.
No meat products and I'm not sure about chocolate

I wonder why.

Seems to me everything biodegrades to the basic chemicals of life.

So why wouldn't chocolate be just as good (or better) as leaves. Both
degrade to carbohydrates, for example.


A good portion of the pile breaks down from fall to
mid-summer.

So a year would seem perfect if a 'good portion' breaks down in 3/4 of a
year. Right?

Chuck Banshee writes:

On Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:05:07 -0500, Dan Espen wrote:

chocolate, bones, bacon aren't good.
No meat products and I'm not sure about chocolate

I wonder why.

Seems to me everything biodegrades to the basic chemicals of life.

So why wouldn't chocolate be just as good (or better) as leaves. Both
degrade to carbohydrates, for example.

Fats take longer to break down and will attract pests.
They stink when they break down.

A good portion of the pile breaks down from fall to
mid-summer.

So a year would seem perfect if a 'good portion' breaks down in 3/4 of a
year. Right?

It's an ongoing process.
At the bottom you will find soil after 6 months or so.
After you have the soil you need to figure out what you're
going to do with it.

For me, I compost a lot of leaves.
I don't turn it, way too much work.
By August, I rake off the leaves on top and
there's about a foot of compost.

I usually sift it all and then spread it on the lawn.

--
Dan Espen

On 1/9/2012 11:48 AM, sam bruno wrote:
The wife got onto this green California kick of eliminating the (gray)
trash can altogether in favor of (blue) recycling and (green) compost.

She seems to think she can harvest her compost by the summer, which she
started on the first of January by daily collecting the household food
waste (bread, pop tarts, cereal, leftover chocolate candies, chicken bones,
fish skin, pizza crusts, eggshells, pasta, too-crisp bacon, etc.) in a
kitchen tupperware container.

Once a day she dumps that into a large green bucket outside, and throws a
pile of soil on top to cover it from the animals and sprays water over the
top to soak it. The green compost bucket is about chest high so the chance
of actually mixing the compost is slim at best.

That's all well and good - but having no experience with compost, I wonder
how long it will take for her to harvest the results.

She seems to think by summer it will be ready.
I think it will take much longer than that.

The question is: How long will it be before compost is usable for
gardening?

Note: We live in the northern California arid climate (it won't rain for 10
months and then in the winter, it will very lightly rain for a few weeks at
a time). Once in a blue moon there will be a downpour - but that's rare so
she'll have to keep wetting it herself.

You gotta feed 3 trash cans? What a PITA. We just got one for
recycling and they won't take yard waste. It and the main trash can are
big. When they dropped off the second one, I facetiously asked, "Where
the **** can I keep my cars?"

I don't compost deliberately but have places I can put yard waste to
deteriorate.

If you look it up, there is a need to aerate the compost.
I'd also keep food stuff in compost to the minimum but some places do
road-killed deer so you can get away with it.

On Jan 9, 10:48*am, sam bruno wrote:
The wife got onto this green California kick of eliminating the (gray)
trash can altogether in favor of (blue) recycling and (green) compost.

She seems to think she can harvest her compost by the summer, which she
started on the first of January by daily collecting the household food
waste (bread, pop tarts, cereal, leftover chocolate candies, chicken bones,
fish skin, pizza crusts, eggshells, pasta, too-crisp bacon, etc.) in a
kitchen tupperware container.

Once a day she dumps that into a large green bucket outside, and throws a
pile of soil on top to cover it from the animals and sprays water over the
top to soak it. The green compost bucket is about chest high so the chance
of actually mixing the compost is slim at best.

That's all well and good - but having no experience with compost, I wonder
how long it will take for her to harvest the results.

She seems to think by summer it will be ready.
I think it will take much longer than that.

The question is: How long will it be before compost is usable for
gardening?

Note: We live in the northern California arid climate (it won't rain for 10
months and then in the winter, it will very lightly rain for a few weeks at
a time). Once in a blue moon there will be a downpour - but that's rare so
she'll have to keep wetting it herself.

I don't think the bones will compost in years, the other stuff maybe
in 6 months.

On Jan 10, 3:18*pm, "hr(bob) "
wrote:
On Jan 9, 10:48*am, sam bruno wrote:





The wife got onto this green California kick of eliminating the (gray)
trash can altogether in favor of (blue) recycling and (green) compost.

She seems to think she can harvest her compost by the summer, which she
started on the first of January by daily collecting the household food
waste (bread, pop tarts, cereal, leftover chocolate candies, chicken bones,
fish skin, pizza crusts, eggshells, pasta, too-crisp bacon, etc.) in a
kitchen tupperware container.

Once a day she dumps that into a large green bucket outside, and throws a
pile of soil on top to cover it from the animals and sprays water over the
top to soak it. The green compost bucket is about chest high so the chance
of actually mixing the compost is slim at best.

That's all well and good - but having no experience with compost, I wonder
how long it will take for her to harvest the results.

She seems to think by summer it will be ready.
I think it will take much longer than that.

The question is: How long will it be before compost is usable for
gardening?

Note: We live in the northern California arid climate (it won't rain for 10
months and then in the winter, it will very lightly rain for a few weeks at
a time). Once in a blue moon there will be a downpour - but that's rare so
she'll have to keep wetting it herself.

I don't think the bones will compost in years, the other stuff maybe
in 6 months.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Depends on the soil, Acid soil rots bones away, especially thin ones.

On 1/9/2012 6:54 PM, Frank wrote:


You gotta feed 3 trash cans? What a PITA. We just got one for recycling
and they won't take yard waste. It and the main trash can are big. When
they dropped off the second one, I facetiously asked, "Where the ****
can I keep my cars?"


I used to burn yard waste but they banned burning.

Then I took it to the local landfill but they stopped accepting it.

So now I just bag yard waste and take it for a little ride on a moonless
night, if ya know what I mean.

First they came for the leaf burners, and I did not speak up because I
wasn't a leaf burner.
Next, they came for the landfills. I did not speak up, because I wasn't a
landfill.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Moe Gasser" wrote in message
news:-

I used to burn yard waste but they banned burning.

Then I took it to the local landfill but they stopped accepting it.

So now I just bag yard waste and take it for a little ride on a moonless
night, if ya know what I mean.

The fastest composts are made from a mix of materials having a carbon
to nitrogen ratio of 30:1, kept moist as a wet but not dripping
sponge, and chopped up to provide more surface area for the process.
As soon as the center of the pile cools turn the outside to the
center.
Meat in quantity can create problems but a little here and there is no
big deal other than attracting a few scavengers.
Anything that does not break down the first time through can be sifted
out and added to the next pile.

"beecrofter" wrote in message
...
The fastest composts are made from a mix of materials having a carbon
to nitrogen ratio of 30:1, kept moist as a wet but not dripping
sponge, and chopped up to provide more surface area for the process.
As soon as the center of the pile cools turn the outside to the
center.
Meat in quantity can create problems but a little here and there is no
big deal other than attracting a few scavengers.
Anything that does not break down the first time through can be sifted
out and added to the next pile.

In which way the meat can cause a problem beside attracting small rodents
which in my case is not a problem? After I harvest the tomatoes in autumn, I
just empty the barrel and spread the material in the garden without being
composted. Living in Canada, the material I put in the barrel while the
winter season is frozen by the cold. In the spring, I empty it again then
turn the soil and when I plant the tomatoes, the material is not even
composted yet but it does not cause any problem so far. Being spread in the
garden, it decomposes a lot faster.

Pin

On Jan 15, 4:46*am, "Pin" wrote:
"beecrofter" wrote in message

...

The fastest composts are made from a mix of materials having a carbon
to nitrogen ratio of 30:1, *kept moist as a wet but not dripping
sponge, and chopped up to provide more surface area for the process.
As soon as the center of the pile cools turn the outside to the
center.
Meat in quantity can create problems but a little here and there is no
big deal other than attracting a few scavengers.
Anything that does not break down the first time through can be sifted
out and added to the next pile.

In which way the meat can cause a problem beside attracting small rodents
which in my case is not a problem? After I harvest the tomatoes in autumn, I
just empty the barrel and spread the material in the garden without being
composted. Living in Canada, the material I put in the barrel while the
winter season is frozen by the cold. In the spring, I empty it again then
turn the soil and when I plant the tomatoes, the material is not even
composted yet but it does not cause any problem so far. Being spread in the
garden, it decomposes a lot faster.

Pin

having a lot of composting material with growing plants, that is not
yet composted stuff can cause a shortage of nitrogen just when your
new tomato plants need it the most.

never compost stuff with growing plants

On Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:49:08 -0800, bob haller wrote:
having a lot of composting material with growing plants, that is not yet
composted stuff can cause a shortage of nitrogen

Why not just collect urine to overcome any need for plant-usable nitrogen?