Lounge Lizards / Misfits / Free Thinkers / Bohemians & the Forgotten :: Young at Heart Only

[yiddleboge6]

BTW ours looks like the one in that article.

That looks just like the one in my Daughter's backyard....only problem....you DO have to go out and turn it...

 

[Mrs C]

It's Sunday morning and I wanted biscuits n sausage gravy. I head for the kitchen start getting stuff out to make it and ... one teeny tiny minor detail. The oven went out the other day and the new range won't be here til Wednesday. No oven = no biscuits. I put everything away and went back to bed.

 

[Janet H]

Hubs has been composting for over 30 years. In fact when we moved from the north we broyght our finished (ready to use) pile. Black gold, as it's called, takes about a year to be ready, couldn't leave it behind.

He has two piles. Each one is the size of a pallet at the back side. They are separated by another pallet in the middle and one on each side. He has a PVC pipe in the middle of each pile to vent. One piles the new stuff and the other one is the "cooking" one. He actually has downsized. At one point he had three because the best job is done by turning it over. So a pile would start at one end, get moved to the middle and end at the other end when ready to use.

About attracting critters. A properly maintained compost pile does NOT smell. Sometimes raccoons would visit it if we tossed fruit in it but not often because you never add meat products which is what would mainly attract them.

If you have any questions about the finer points let me know and I'll ask hubs but this link also has good info. BTW ours looks like the one in that article.

Composting 101 Tips - How to Make Compost

Excellent article. Thanks! We don't have a convenient place for the bins, but the freestanding tumblers might not be big enough. Might be better off using a trash can. Gotta think on it. Seeing some in person would help. I was pleased to find that it's pretty simple to do, just a few rules to understand.

 

[Flowersoul]

Good morning Fran, Bea. We're a bit foggy here. Other than the 99% humidity it's only going to 80 today so at least we won't cook when we go outside. Our daughter's fiancé is from CO and loves the cold. They're living in VA this past year and one day last week when it was so hot he stepped outside and said, "nobody told me we'd be living on the surface of the sun!"

Anybody have any experience with composters? I've been thinking of getting one for awhile. They have the tumbler kind which makes it easy to mix or the free standing one that requires mixing with a fork or shovel. We don't have a place for the open air kind and don't want to attract critters.

We've used a tumbler one for many a year but the sun has bleached it a lot, but still does the job.
I doubt that we'll replace it, as we are downsizing the gardens and 99% of the gardens will be all perennials and about 4 inches of mulch.
We also have a very pretty ceramic kitchen counter one for eggshells, coffee grinds, etc. Collect scraps, then every other day deposit in the bin. We have scaled down considerably so haven't used it much lately. The tumbler compost bin is one I'd recommend.

 

[DavidOck]

Especially one with dual bins. Use one until it's "full", then start on the other, turning both, of course. If you put it where it can get full sun, it will do its magic faster

 

[Janet H]

Especially one with dual bins. Use one until it's "full", then start on the other, turning both, of course. If you put it where it can get full sun, it will do its magic faster

It will definitely be in the sun. Like Flowersoul I have a container on the counter for coffee grounds and egg shells, but I'd like to put food scraps in it as well as garden junk. When I was putting veggie scraps in it and tossing it in the garden we had critters come in. Probably skunks and rodents. Composting would avoid that.

I'm really leaning to the double bin one like you showed from Costco. What about weed seeds? Do they just break down too? I don't want to add any more weeds to the garden if it can be helped. I'e also got a couple flowering plants on the deck that have gotten mealy bugs. Would that be bad to put in to compost?

 

[Flowersoul]

2nd thunderstorm on its way. Fish pond is full, so will have to keep an eye out for any jumping fishies. Lost one last week when he got caught on the lily pad and jumped right out of the pond! Poor baby was still breathing, but too shallow to last long after I put him back.

 

[Janet H]

2nd thunderstorm on its way. Fish pond is full, so will have to keep an eye out for any jumping fishies. Lost one last week when he got caught on the lily pad and jumped right out of the pond! Poor baby was still breathing, but too shallow to last long after I put him back.

Funny, I just got a picture in my head of you putting a fence around your pond to keep the fish in!

 

[DavidOck]

It will definitely be in the sun. Like Flowersoul I have a container on the counter for coffee grounds and egg shells, but I'd like to put food scraps in it as well as garden junk. When I was putting veggie scraps in it and tossing it in the garden we had critters come in. Probably skunks and rodents. Composting would avoid that.

I'm really leaning to the double bin one like you showed from Costco. What about weed seeds? Do they just break down too? I don't want to add any more weeds to the garden if it can be helped. I'e also got a couple flowering plants on the deck that have gotten mealy bugs. Would that be bad to put in to compost?

Weed seeds may or may not survive the compost, depends, I guess, on what kind? Although we've had a rather large variety go in, and none have grown. Not sure at all about the mealy bugs... might be that the natural heat from composting will cook them to death, but don't know.

Add leafy stuff, i.e. grass clippings and other garden "junk" as well as household garbage (NO meat products, and while egg shells are fine, we don't put anything that's had butter on it in, either.) Meat / byproducts will not compost, but they will rot!

Likewise to the compost container in the kitchen. Although we use a separate one for coffee grounds (they go straight into the garden ), pretty much ALL vegetable leavings get composted here.

 

[Bea-FL]

It will definitely be in the sun. Like Flowersoul I have a container on the counter for coffee grounds and egg shells, but I'd like to put food scraps in it as well as garden junk. When I was putting veggie scraps in it and tossing it in the garden we had critters come in. Probably skunks and rodents. Composting would avoid that.

I'm really leaning to the double bin one like you showed from Costco. What about weed seeds? Do they just break down too? I don't want to add any more weeds to the garden if it can be helped. I'e also got a couple flowering plants on the deck that have gotten mealy bugs. Would that be bad to put in to compost?

The heat generated in a compost bin should kill seeds especially if the bin gets sun most of the day.

We used to keep a container on the counter where we put stuff to tske out to the compost…until the day I opened the lid to throw some stuff in and it was full of maggots. Apparently a fly must have been trapped in it and laid eggs…thst hatched. I don't even remember a fly getting in the house. After that we started storing the contsiner in the fridge.

I still get the heebee jeebees thinking about it.

 

[Bea-FL]

@DavidOck hubs doesn't get the vegetable scraps/ends any more until after I make stock. I keep them all in a container in the freezer and when it's full I make stock. Then they go to the compist.

 

[Bea-FL]

Good morning

 

[Anise]

Good morning Bea!
Good morning everyone! I hope everyone has a good day today!

 

[Flowersoul]

Good morning Loungers

 

[FranC]

Good morning to the young at heart

 

[stols001]

I still get the heebee jeebees thinking about it.

This made me think of FEAR factor. I'll admit, there is a part of me that still misses that show... Good morning all

Anna

 

[Uncle Willie]

Hola ..

Phyllis called in and took a Personal Day ..

 

[Anise]

Sniff sniff I miss Phyllis

 

[MikeE3]

Hola ..

Phyllis called in and took a Personal Day ..

So what club were you two at last night?

 

[DavidOck]

I have the pic right here