Compost pile very close t

Hello everybody. I'm just starting on SFG, and I am very excited!

I want to start my compost, and have this two questions:

1- my yard is very very little. I have a little aisle on each side of my house, like 2 ft max. I was wondering if I can do my compost pile there? I am worried about bad odors and rodents. This location is just around the corner, between the house wall, and the neighbor wall. Though there are no windows on that side.

2- can I make my compost pile little by little? I intend to add one layer at a time: each day add the vegetables, peels, etc, day by day. On Saturday, put there all the dry leaves, and maybe grass trimmings. I mean, I don't have all the material at once, but I intend to add it as I generate or find it. It'll maybe take me 2-3 weeks until I reach 3-4 ft high? Or should I get all the material at once?

Thanks in advance

Compost takes time along with ingredients. So start now with what you have on hand, add to it as you get more. Keep food scraps covered with grass or leaves and you should have no or little odor. I have never had a rodent problem and I use an open wire bin. Be sure to wet the layers and turn it all as often as needed to keep the heat up. I add whatever waste or food scraps to mine daily and over time it becomes compost.

You won't be likely to have a problem with smell, if you keep the compost in balance and well aereated. By balance I mean a mix of green (high nitrogen) and brown (high carbon). Green things are fresh grass clippings, kitchen scraps, weeds you pull from the garden, poultry manure, etc. Brown things are dead leaves and grass, sawdust, etc. I add some crushed charcoal (helps control odor, as well as soak up plant nutrients that it will release later when you add it to your mix), and crushed eggshells, because compost tends to be acid, and eggshells help bring it back toward neutral.
You'll find that the pile shrinks rapidly as it processes all the ingredients, so your estimate of depth is probably highly optimistic, unless you are gathering a lot of grass clippings, etc., from the neighborhood.
My summer compost is generating a lot of soldier fly larvae which love the kitchen scraps. Every day I pitch a shovelful of these "maggots" to my chickens. They love it! And they provide manure to keep the composting process active. Talk about recycling!

Axel

Don't forget that when you keep adding fresh ingredients the pile will never be finished. I have only recently learned this myself, so I want to pass on the information.

When your pile is as large as you need, and you have turned it several times and it cools down, then let it "finish", do not add anything more but start a fresh pile. You will then be able to use it.

I have just finished adding to my pile as I did not have enough "green" in the beginning. Now I am letting it sit until fall, when I will sift it and add to my garden. The larger pieces that do not go through my 1/2 inch mesh will be added to the new pile.

Meanwhile I will start a new pile and start adding any ingredients I come across such as kitchen scraps, discarded plant, coffee grounds, egg shells, egg cartons, shredded newspapers and heaps of the leaves that will fall off my trees later this year to which I will add animal manures (steer, cow, rabbit, hen etc.)

This current year I did not have very much home made compost ready so I bought some, and I feel that is the reason I did not do as well as I did the two previous years. (Apart from this being the wettest June in our area since records were kept; three times the average rainfall, with a corresponding lack of sunshine and warmth)

As I think others will tell you, the compost is the most important ingredient in the mix: you can do without the other two, but that would be useless without decent compost.

Look for the compost topics, there are quite a few on this board.

Thank you all for your answers! All of them are very useful and I will take them into account on the following days. Thanks for sharing!!

Let us know how you get on, Axel.

Compost-question:
say a handicapped person is short on cash (for buying compost), nor has a Compost-turning machine, nor is able to get someone else to turn the pile however often; but yet nonetheless wants compost.. So last year, I just took a 5-gallon bucket, stuck it out back, & filled it alternately with some straw, produce left-overs, & added some of the best soil I had around. (Then I emptied that into a 20-gallon trash-can, to fill it up too). Open to the air, it didn't really smell too bad. - I had told the neighborhood kid (who helped keep the tall weeds shorter), "this is my COMPOST-system, filled with water too, so I can use it to water the garden beds. Just leave it".

Alas, without my permission he dumped them over!! "just helping you", so all that Good stuff (while I was in the hospital) ended up growing even MORE weeds!! That all to say, I am now needing to start from square one, Sigh.

Aside getting other help, & considering the same limitations, what suggestions can you offer for making Compost in the shortest amount of time?

LittleGardener wrote:Compost-question:
say a handicapped person is short on cash (for buying compost), nor has a Compost-turning machine, nor is able to get someone else to turn the pile however often; but yet nonetheless wants compost.. So last year, I just took a 5-gallon bucket, stuck it out back, & filled it alternately with some straw, produce left-overs, & added some of the best soil I had around. (Then I emptied that into a 20-gallon trash-can, to fill it up too). Open to the air, it didn't really smell too bad. - I had told the neighborhood kid (who helped keep the tall weeds shorter), "this is my COMPOST-system, filled with water too, so I can use it to water the garden beds. Just leave it".

Alas, without my permission he dumped them over!! "just helping you", so all that Good stuff (while I was in the hospital) ended up growing even MORE weeds!! That all to say, I am now needing to start from square one, Sigh.

Aside getting other help, & considering the same limitations, what suggestions can you offer for making Compost in the shortest amount of time?

oh man, what a bummer. Someone on here posted a like about making compost in 18 days...do a search and see if you can find it. If I remember correctly, it sounded "do-able". Good luck!!

I don't think a handicapped person would be able to do the 18 day compost as it involves quite a bit of pile turning. This is where a bit of volunteer help from someone who knows what is required would be useful.

I sometimes think when I see groups of youngsters hanging out together, wouldn't it be wonderful if they could get together and help disabled people with something like that, and not asked to be paid for it.

southern gardener wrote:oh man, what a bummer.
Someone on here posted a like about making compost in 18 days...do a search and see if you can find it. If I remember correctly, it sounded "do-able". Good luck!!

Are you kidding there's like 7 pgs. of nonstop Compost-threads in this forum. Guess I must search for one called "18-day compost" thread & recipe.

IF there's alot of 'wet/heavy turning' involved, that for sure is NOT doable for me. Not that it ever was, weighing all of maybe 106-110 lbs. by design.

When we had our bunny, chickens & goats, we had all the compost needed, plus some. But those resources are currently not an option. Any other suggestions?

Maybe a local dairy has stable compost for cheap or less. Restarting your garbage can compost and paint on the lid a severe warning message?

LittleGardener wrote:

southern gardener wrote:oh man, what a bummer.
Someone on here posted a like about making compost in 18 days...do a search and see if you can find it. If I remember correctly, it sounded "do-able". Good luck!!

Are you kidding there's like 7 pgs. of nonstop Compost-threads in this forum. Guess I must search for one called "18-day compost" thread & recipe.

IF there's alot of 'wet/heavy turning' involved, that for sure is NOT doable for me. Not that it ever was, weighing all of maybe 106-110 lbs. by design.

When we had our bunny, chickens & goats, we had all the compost needed, plus some. But those resources are currently not an option. Any other suggestions?

I found it in about 5 seconds under "compost 18", anyway, here's the link. You were asking about making the compost in the shortest amount of time " "Aside getting other help, & considering the same limitations, what suggestions can you offer for making Compost in the shortest amount of time?"", that's all I was attempting to help you with. At any rate, here's the link http://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/

southern gardener wrote:
I found it in about 5 seconds under "compost 18", anyway, here's the link.
http://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/

Thank you very much God bless you.

camprn wrote:Maybe a local dairy has stable compost for cheap or less. Restarting your garbage can compost and paint on the lid a severe warning message?

Yes, I know where I can get all the chicken-poop I want for Free sorta, by driving 100 miles round-trip. Just wondering what is the shortest amount of time I could have some ready, is why I asked. (But I see giving more info is not necessarily the best.) Also I didn't have a lid on the other 2 buckets under the eves, because I was trying to get rain-water to make it more liquid so I could water the plants with it: as a new experiment. I like experimenting, because that's how we learn. Anyway, Thank you too dear lady God bless you too.

LittleGardener wrote:

camprn wrote:Maybe a local dairy has stable compost for cheap or less. Restarting your garbage can compost and paint on the lid a severe warning message?

Yes, I know where I can get all the chicken-poop I want for Free sorta, by driving 100 miles round-trip. Just wondering what is the shortest amount of time I could have some ready, is why I asked. (But I see giving more info is not necessarily the best.) Also I didn't have a lid on the other 2 buckets under the eves, because I was trying to get rain-water to make it more liquid so I could water the plants with it: as a new experiment. I like experimenting, because that's how we learn. Anyway, Thank you too dear lady God bless you too.

Yes tea like that may be beneficial. I hope you try again and can report back the results

Hmm... composting is a process, not an event... it needs perspective.

The fastest way to get it is buy it already made...... the next fastest home made is going to require much physical effort, unless you have a tractor... the next option is months in the making building by hand watching, waiting and turning. The easiest one of all is to just pile it there and forget about it for a year.
Good luck in your quest.

camprn wrote:

LittleGardener wrote:

camprn wrote:Maybe a local dairy has stable compost for cheap or less. Restarting your garbage can compost and paint on the lid a severe warning message?

I didn't have a lid on the other 2 buckets under the eves, because I was trying to get rain-water to make it more liquid so I could water the plants with it: as a new experiment.
I like experimenting, because that's how we learn. Anyway, Thank you too dear lady God bless you too.

Yes tea like that may be beneficial. I hope you try again and can report back the results

Hmm... composting is a process, not an event... it needs perspective.

The fastest way to get it is buy it already made.
the next fastest home made is going to require much physical effort, unless you have a tractor.
the next option is months in the making building by hand watching, waiting and turning.

The easiest one of all is to just pile it there and forget about it for a year.
Good luck in your quest.

Yes, that last one sounds about right - so can the tea as it's being made in the little bucket, be used right away? or does it need to sit, too for a year?

See, in all our years of gardening, we merely dug kitchen-produce, etc. right into the soil around the plants, and forgot about it. We never ever had a "pile" cooking off to the side, to be used later. - Therefore, last year I also had no clue re getting a "special compost thermometer with a 20-inch stem" to monitor the Temperature for knowing when to turn it. - Here's my honest question: Have you ever seen mother Nature TURN stuff, to make new soil? (excluding natural disasters) - can you see why all that heavy work seems really strange?

Now a 3 x 3 ft. pile of grass-clippings next to the shed, presently is disappearing into the ground for nothing. But I'm afraid to save any of it, as I don't need to multiply the billions of dandelion-seeds in there.

But I've researched www some more, and discovered further helpful suggestions.

Thank you again.

[quote="LittleGardener"]

camprn wrote:

See, in all our years of gardening, we merely dug kitchen-produce, etc. right into the soil around the plants, and forgot about it. We never ever had a "pile" cooking off to the side, to be used later. - Therefore, last year I also had no clue re getting a "special compost thermometer with a 20-inch stem" to monitor the Temperature for knowing when to turn it. - Here's my honest question: Have you ever seen mother Nature TURN stuff, to make new soil? (excluding natural disasters) - can you see why all that heavy work seems really strange?

Now a 3 x 3 ft. pile of grass-clippings next to the shed, presently is disappearing into the ground for nothing. But I'm afraid to save any of it, as I don't need to multiply the billions of dandelion-seeds in there.

But I've researched www some more, and discovered further helpful suggestions.

Thank you again.

That dig it into an area of the garden is an excellent method of composting. Why stop?
Or start a worm farm for kitchen waste and excellent stuff to put in the garden.

Solorize your grass clippings to kill the dandolion seeds. Then use it as mulch in your garden and watch it sheet compost.

Turan wrote:
That dig it into an area of the garden is an excellent method of composting. Why stop?
Or start a worm farm for kitchen waste and excellent stuff to put in the garden.

What I've read in the forum here, we are supposed to have a "separate pile" for composting; so I was looking into that more. - But you're quite right,
we don't need to stop the old way of doing it. Thanks for this reassurance.

Turan wrote:
Solorize your grass clippings to kill the dandolion seeds. Then use it as mulch in your garden and watch it sheet compost.

What do you mean by "Solorize, and sheet"? - Sorry for not yet following.

AHA, I had the right idea all along: http://www.ehow.com/video_4766000_make-compost-tea.html

Little gardener.
I too have probs with physical fitness so this year I have been playinkg at all sorts of ways of getting a useful result fairly quickly .

The quickest easiest one i found so far is to get a heavy duty , preferably black , plastic rubble sack 36 inches tall by 24 inches wide and fill it up with as much waste as I can get stuffed in it over ten days or so then fold over the top to keep out the rain and use duct tape to keep it folded over . Jab a dozen or so small pencil sized holes in the base area of the bag and leave it alone for four months or more.

The bag I did like this has rotted down , dried out a fair bit and has given some compost .
To get the compost out the bag I slit the bag open and left it for a few days to dry out some more , then scraped it up into small buckets with a kiddies " like daddies , but smaller " gardening spade

I like the idea of putting your scraps directly into the soil! Like you said that has been done for many many years.

Solorizing would be putting plastic over something like your grass clippings. You wet it first, cover with clear plastic (I think black plastic would work also) and let the sun heat up whatever is under the plastic. It would get hot enough to kill the dandelion seeds. If you don't want the grass to start to decompose, don't wet it first. The sun will heat up and kill the weed seeds whether the grass is wet or dry.

With compost tea which it sounds like what you want to make to water your plants, you make the compost first. Then let it soak in water no more than three days.

Plantoid's idea with a garbage bag sounds like a great idea also. That may be a way you can manage to make compost the quickest and probably is doable for you. Your little helper would probably love to kick the bag around every so often!

I hope we are not giving you too many ideas and making it sound too complicated. I also have some physical limitations so I can identify with you.

I to am disabled and poor hehe so I have researched a lot also on composting. The one I wish to try is the 2 bucket method with red worms >Ok I am still to new to post links so you figure out what is missing hehe >>>> youtu.be/TGu7dAM5kOQ

My son has a com poster machine? what type I don't know but I am waiting to hear his results.
While waiting for the money to come in for the red worms I took Steer manure I had bought when first starting my new bucket garden and put it into a small container with a handle on it and placed it inside a 5 gallon bucket like making a LARGE cup of tea. This seems to work but I am still leery about how much I can use on my plants with out burning them, I did thin the tea out to a lighter shade like some other research had told me to do.
:fall: Good Luck and let me know what you did or going to try.

SARockhill wrote:I to am disabled and poor hehe so I have researched a lot also on composting. The one I wish to try is the 2 bucket method with red worms
>Ok I am still new to post links >>>> youtu.be/TGu7dAM5kOQ

okay, have soo much on my plate right now, that Adding a "worm farm" on top of everything else, would have me in Overwhelm to quit; so don't wanna go there. - But do tell when you find an easy way to get this too accomplished.

SARockhill wrote:
While waiting for the money to come in for the red worms I took Steer manure into a small container with a handle on it and placed it inside a 5 gallon bucket like making a LARGE cup of tea. This seems to work but leery about burning them, I thin the tea out to a lighter shade like some other research had told me to do.
:fall: Good Luck and let me know what you did or going to try.

Well, last year I simply put outside by the back-door an orange Loew's Homer-bucket in the position so the rain could collect in it (no lid). Then I'd drop whatever Produce kitchen scraps right in it, and used that as is. No clue what its composition was, (when almost killed by medical malpractice), fainting all over the place, I had absolutely no strength to find out either. - After a kid kicked the whole bucket over, I now need to start over. - But rest assured this WILL get done, it's just a matter of how quick btw, I love that graphic, & too never growing up is (context-dependent) Intelligent...

plantoid wrote:Little gardener.
The quickest easiest one i found so far is to get a heavy duty black plastic rubble sack 36in. tall by 24in. wide and fill it up with as much waste as I can get stuffed in it over ten days or so. Then fold over the top to keep out the rain, & use duct tape to keep it folded over. Jab a dozen or so small pencil sized holes in the base area of the bag and leave it alone for four months or more.

okay, kewl. Thanks! I'll get right on it today. Now we've got enough leaves, grass, weeds, & animal-gifts (lol) to fill like 6-8 of these bags, so where am I gonna lay them? - Don't laugh now, but since Cooking the insides is ideal, how about along both East & South-sides of the house wall (where least seen by passers-by with nosy questions). This could serve triple-duty, as the bag-bottoms would also kill whatever weeds are there now prolifically growing, so I could plant there next year.
On 2nd. thought -
I have tried hard (at the Dump, & Carpet-dumpsters) to get free dumped carpet to lay on (1/4 of an acre) to slay those weeds, as 2 other projects are just waiting for me to get this done too. - Any good Quick ideas for that, have you?

plantoid wrote: The bag I did like this has rotted down, dried out a fair bit and has given some compost.
To get the compost out the bag I slit the bag open and left it for a few days to dry out some more , then scraped it up into small buckets with a kiddies "like daddies, but smaller" gardening spade.

Yes, I did this already with the store-potting soil. - Thanks again, I appreciate this kewl method. Share any others you have too

Augment your black plastic bags with layers of cardboard and newspaper. Use the bags as weights to hold it down. Now that will do for your smaller area. I used my old living room wall to wall for an area where I eventually want to lay pavers. Got the guys that ripped it out to just take it into the back yard. It's still there with the lawn furniture sitting on it. BUT SOMEDAY!!!!!!!!! Try freecycle and see if someone is having carpet replace.

Kay