How do you start a compost pile??

[Clay In Iowa]

ummm ... Throw a bunch of poopy litter in a pile ... TAA DAA!!! compost pile.

 

[scoobychick]

Everyone should take a look at this blog he has answers to everything and if he doesn't have the answer he enjoys finding it for you http://apaetoday.blogspot.com he has things about coops compost and he does it all in his little yard no farm but with the things he grows you would think its a farm!

 

[granmahen]

We actually boxed in sides because of our dog and because of neighbors (we're in the suburbs). but plenty of air still gets in and it cooks pretty quickly. we have two side by side. About 4 ft tall and five feet back and 2 feet across. Some two by fours and plywood. We do wet ours from time to time and stick the fork in there and give a little toss once a week. Yummy.

 

[jvls1942]

I haul everything to a pile close to the garden.. I even bury the chicken guts and feathers in the compost.. once or twice a year, I take the tractor bucket loader and "toss" it.. like a salad, LOL
I use what I need and keep adding to it.. I think the present pile is about 5 years old and growing..
I would guess that it is about 3 or 4 cubic yards... I also occasionally get the guys from Asplund to dump chipped tree branches here.
If they are in the neighborhood trimming branches along the power lines.. It takes a year or two for the chips to break down but I am in no hurry because I have other compost piles established..

in the fall, you can pick up bagged leaves along any city street.. You can either dump these onto your compost pile or leave them in the bags.. Poke holes in the bags so water can get in and rot the leaves.
this method is a bit messy, though.
because the bags deteriorate and are wet and slimey when you go to empty them after a few months..

just one trip home from town one day with my truck netted me 94 bags.. If you empty them, you have free garbage bags for a year in no time..

....jiminwisc.......

 

[Verboten]

Quote:
Are you going to charge the coworker or do you just want it gone? There are only a few people that I would go through all the work of making and tending a compost pile for. He might want it uncomposted anyway to help along his pile.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Quote:
Word of warning if you want to grow organically...you have no idea what other people put on their lawns or what ends up in their bags. Or what diseases their trees have...just a thought.

 

[GaDawg]

Quote:
Are you going to charge the coworker or do you just want it gone? There are only a few people that I would go through all the work of making and tending a compost pile for. He might want it uncomposted anyway to help along his pile.

The guy said that he would buy it....

 

[Verboten]

Quote:
That sounds great!
I don't consider myself an expert composter, but the size of the piles is important - about a cubic yard is a good size, a bit bigger is ok but much smaller and it won't hold in the heat needed to kill weed seeds. Another thing, fresh chicken manure is very high in nitrogen so to have a good balance of carbon to nitrogen in your pile (to make the microbes happy) you might need to find a source of fallen leaves (low in nitrogen, high in carbon). Keep moist (not wet) and turn when the temperature inside the pile noticably falls.

Best of luck to you!

 

[cmom]

My compost is in a pile, It consists of grass clippings, kitchen scraps that I don't feed my birds, coop litter, leaves, and last year I grew peanuts so I put the peanut shells in too. I don't throw any kind of weeds in or meat. Also I put in produce that is going by from my plots, I have some garden pictures on my BYC Page.

 

[FrChuckW]

One of the methods I use in making my compost bin is to use the corner of my yard. I have a chain link fence surrounding my backyard and I took one corner, and using old pallets I snagged and some poles to hold them up made a box in the corner.

I have also used the pallets and made them into a box shape. All four sides of the box are pallets on end and just wired together with a piece of wood across the corners on top as an additional brace. I just pile everything in them and let them sit. I also throw in the dirt from potted plants and flowers that have died. You want to find pallets that the spacing between slats are close together about an inch or so apart. This will allow air to get into the pile, allow for drainage from heavy rains.

Aside from not throwing meat and dairy products in the pile, also do not throw any dog or cat poo in them. Not only can they sour the pile, but they can attract unwanted vermin to it.

Check out Mother Earth News website for some good tips on composting.