Does anyone compost?

[redlawyer]

We compost all of our kitchen scraps (except meat products or greasy foods). We have a square plastic compost bin that we put the scraps into, layered with the kitchen scraps. Every spring I dig the fresh compost into the veggie garden.

 

[hipchickie]

*If the compost doesn't get air it creates methane a poisonous gas and greenhouse gas*.

Methane is not poisonous, and in the quantities a home composter would produce, certainly nothing to worry about. If that was the case I would be more concerned about my family killing me with their farts and burps.

I have been composting for years, but this thread is a great example of why I love this board - I would have never thought of dryer lint or vacuum pick up!
We are a family of four and have 1/2 - 1 bag of trash a week.

Not only that, but we have reduced our paper recycling - there has been some incidences around here of recycling being picked up, and then brought to the dump anyway! Now I shred everything possible and add it to the composter - great to up your "brown". Every paper that comes into this house gets put into the scrap paper pile, the back side used, and then shredded and into the compost - I am particularly proud of that (what can I say, I am easily excited)

I just got this new bin last year, so today is the first day I am going to dig in...I can't wait!!

 

[monorailsilver]

We do too.

We have a large pile way out back.

We put the grass clippings in it as well as the leaves. We put more stuff in it in the summer months (easier to get out there since we are outside alot). But I put any vegetable or fruit scrap in it. Occasionally it gets paper goods as well but not so much.

My dh uses it for the gardens.

He tells me he finds worms about an inch thick which sort of grosses me out when I cut the grass & throw the clippings in the pile. I think I'd freak if I saw that.

 

[Syrreal]

We got a "roly pig" http://www.rolypig.com/ a couple of years ago and have been using it ever since. I keep the scraps and stuff in a little bin in the kitchen and then let DS "feed the pig" every morning.

 

[CajunDixie]

With the worm bins you don't have to worry about the weather in the winter as they can be kept indoors. And it doesn't take a year to get the compost...just long enough for them to eat the scraps. The time from start to finish will only depend on the amount of scraps and the number of worms you start with in the bin.

For those with the outdoor bins for leaves and grass add in nightcrawler worms.

 

[skiingfast]

Methane is not poisonous, and in the quantities a home composter would produce, certainly nothing to worry about. If that was the case I would be more concerned about my family killing me with their farts and burps.

Yes, Methane is poisonous, as a fact it hurts people, causing injury and harm. If you pay carefull attention to lawmakers, major producers of methane are sometimes questioned as being allowed to continue.

Though it is true that in an open area a composter will not pose a particular threat, if every home in the world has one it would be a problem.

This is why compost needs to be turned. Their is no other reason. Wether you know it or not you are turning it to disrupt the bacteria that produce methane as a biproduct.

 

[janey99]

We have a worm box like some of the other posters - we add in our fruit and veggie leavings, egg shells, coffee grounds and filters and occasionally a fistful of dried leaves and fresh grass clippings.

My DSs (2 and 12) looooove the wormbox - DS2 is always asking to see the "oooms."

To clarify something a PP said - worm boxes do not have to be moved inside in the winter. We are in northern NJ (zone 6) and as long as the worms have about 8-10 inches of their own produced compost by late fall/winter, they can easily dig down into that to survive the winter.

Jane

 

[hipchickie]

Yes, Methane is poisonous, as a fact it hurts people, causing injury and harm. If you pay carefull attention to lawmakers, major producers of methane are sometimes questioned as being allowed to continue.

Though it is true that in an open area a composter will not pose a particular threat, if every home in the world has one it would be a problem.

This is why compost needs to be turned. Their is no other reason. Wether you know it or not you are turning it to disrupt the bacteria that produce methane as a biproduct.

No, I am sorry you are incorrect, but methane is not poisonous.
"Disrupting" bacteria is not the point of turning, the point is to add oxygen to encourage aerobic bacteria instead of anaerobic (methane producing) bacteria
And here is a great resource for why you need to turn compost http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_compost_heaps_have_to_be_turned_regularly

 

[formill]

We had a composter for a couple of years......it all ended for me when I opened the little door at the bottom to remove finished compost and all these baby mice scurried out. Guess mama mouse thought it was a nice place to build a nest. I now just throw all my potato peelings etc at the base of shrubs. Many communities around us have green bins and they put all their compostable stuff in them and they are collected just like the regular recyling bins. Our area does not do that yet.

 

[janey99]

We had a composter for a couple of years......it all ended for me when I opened the little door at the bottom to remove finished compost and all these baby mice scurried out. Guess mama mouse thought it was a nice place to build a nest. I now just throw all my potato peelings etc at the base of shrubs. Many communities around us have green bins and they put all their compostable stuff in them and they are collected just like the regular recyling bins. Our area does not do that yet.

This reminded me of a story - in addition to our worm box, we also have a larger, more free form compost heap for grass clippings and leaves. A couple of years ago in mid-fall I looked out the window and could see "something" in the compost heap. We got the binoculars, and it was a fox who had found it a warm place to nest the night before! He was sitting there all snuggled down with only his head perked up - it was hilarious. We watched him for a while and when we wandered off midmorning to do other things, he snuck off.

Jane