How do you compost?

We've added a Composting Systems categories for rating & reviews.  I was surprised how many different kinds of composters there are.

 

This one has got to be the oddest looking I've ever seen.

 

 

Honestly if I found this in my backyard I would have thought the mother ship had landed and tiny green men would soon be everywhere.  I wonder how well it works?

 

That's where you guys come in.   If you've used any of the products that we have listed please give honest reviews.  The compost area now includes: Compost Bins, Compost Pails, Composters and Worm Composting.  If something is working great for you and we don't have it listed by all means include it!  We want to share what works best.  If its something homemade and you want to share directions we can include it.  It doesn't have to be a brand new product.

 

So back to the thread, what kind of composter do you use?  A system or a pile?  For years we've used a square, wood system that looks similar to this..

 

 

We made ours out of old pallets so its not as pretty but it works.  Now we've decided to buy a compost tumbler this spring and I really want a worm farm.

 

What do you use to compost with?

Mine are so old boo I`ve forgotten the name of it. The one at the end of my yard has finally "bit the dirt" Ohhhh don`t ya just love the play on these words hahahhahaha seriously, it`s shot!! So gona bring the one up from the cottage, cause I need one up here more then down there. They have worked fine for me. Maybe the one from the cottage still has a name on it somewhere.

Sneezie, if they are that old and still work it would be great if you could find out the name because that sounds like one that is made to last.   Is it a bin type that sit on the ground or is it a tumbler type?

 

I think the problem with my compost heap is I don't turn the soil enough so its rather slow to produce compost.  The compost is great but there isn't enough of it.

Geez...that first one looks like the tripods from War of the Worlds.  Scary looking...

Since we have a manure pile, we don't compost much.  Some natural stuff gets thrown into the pile and tossed around.  It just sits in the field....nothing fancy. 

How much compost do you get out of those fancy composters & tumblers?
I have a 6' by 3' wire fence bin that fills up before most of the leaves drop. The overflow is piled around it to be added as the bin settles.
Last years pile is screened in spring as needed with the extra set aside. Then the bin stuff is turned & moved to where last years pile was to finish by next spring.
It's slow, bountiful at zero cost and not much work.

So it's a compost pile that is ready after one season?  You don't turn it much? 

 

I'm not sure that any of the fancier ones do much better than a good old pile, but I'll let you know.  I'm excited about cranking a knob rather than heaving a pitch fork.  We've been saving up for our tumbler for a couple years now so I hope it's not a disappointment.  Time will tell..

I've tried a couple of those black plastic jobbies. even with bungee straps the lids just vanish in the wind. I also end up with a pile besides, I know that it is ready when grass starts to try and move in. Most of my compost is flower stems from dead heading, sometimes the top of the pile even looks pretty.

I had a pile down at the bottom of a slope at the old house.  Never turned I just let the worms do the job. 

There is a compost bin here that looks like what you have Boo but it looks like it might be rubbermaid.   I will use that but I like a lot more compost that bin.  Soooo I will use a section by the woods to make a pile on the ground like I did at the old house.  I get compost faster if it is small piles vs big piles.  The worms break it down really fast.

Alberta, don't those make the best compost?  My mom has started dead heading my daylilies not because she is being nice but because she lays the blossoms in her herb bed.   She wants the blossoms before I get them.

 

Blossom break down really well and you're right they are so pretty.

Aud, if its by the woods won't it get too much shade?  My pile has been surrounded by trees that were once small.  That's why a tumbler looks promising so I can move it around to where the sun is.  I have limited space though so I hope the smell isn't bad.

Boo, I turn it once as I move it from bin to pile in June. An hour or so does it. Screening is what takes time.
It's nice, clean stuff with few weed seeds after 12 to 23 months. Those gadgets work with hot composting in small batches, my way eats up everything on a yearly basis.
I'm lazy, happy to let Nature do the job. There's a sheltered corner of the yard to hide everything, drag it in and forget it.

We are fortunate in that our county collects compostable materials. We just wheel out a third container next to garbage and recycling. It can take a lot of stuff we probably wouldn't try to compost ourselves, like meat and bones and paper. Pretty awesome. The thing is: I didn't realize we had this service for YEARS. I knew about the third bin, but I thought it was ONLY for yard clippings! If you have a "green bin" for yard clippings, you should call the number on the side and ask if they take compost.

We don't get the benefit of the final composted fertilizer, but it does cut down on trash! Our whole building with 3 residences is now able to get by on one single small trash can (which keeps our garbage bill nice and low!)

Yay Alameda County!

I compost a lot!! I have 4 bins and one pile. I'm trying desperately to improve the horrible clay soil I have so every little thing I can compost goes into a bin and then spread on the clay once it's done. Some of the bins can get really hot and the resulting compost is marvellous.

All the houses here came with one compost bin per house.  I have 4.  Neighbours who haven't wanted to use theirs have given them to me.  I don't have room for a pile, but the bins are in various locations in the back, a couple hidden by plants so they're not so much of an eyesore.  I don't use as much compost as I used to since I put in the granite grit in my clay soil, but I do still sidedress the gardens with compost every year.

I think compost is the best thing you can use on your garden. It will feed and nourish your plants and improve your soil without any risk of burning or over fertilizing with chemicals.

Blue Belle, did you put the "chelated" granite in your clay?  Are you pleased?  How much did you use?  I was waiting until I had enough compost to try adding the granite the garden center suggested.  I had only heard of gypsum and then that was refuted as a good move.  I have the heavy red clay here.
   I am just piling my composting materials hopefully because I have way more than would ever fit in one of those bins.  Lots of leaves and newspapers and I am going to have to find a good source of green.  It does not look to be breaking down fast I guess I am going to have to turn it more often.  I have been stealing worms after the rains if they show up on the sidewalks to add to the pile.  Guess when it heats up that would be the last of the worm workers.  Hadn't thought of that before.  Maybe I'll try some small piles as well.  I left my black plastic bins in my Ga garden.  Thought it would encourage my renters to keep  adding good stuff to my garden.  I will have to cruise the web to see what they were.

I put grass clippings (fresh cut), sticks (broken into 2 inch lengths or so), a little saw dust (this increases fungal dominance in compost so don't use very much), old dead plants that were disease free, mowed tree leaves, old potting soil from indoor plants, dirt from the hole I am about to plant in (this introduces the soil biology into the compost. Earthworms, etc.), and I keep it in semi shade, semi moist, turning it at least once a week. It is ready when it smells like good soil, and most of the colr is gone, and only blackish brown remains. I do this almost exclusively in the nice months of the year, and have it finished well before winter.

I am going to try making Aerated compost tea.

I have 3 homemade compost bins, 2 that look like beehives, they take a while to compost stuff down as they are not in full sun, but I get a reasonable amount at the end of each year. I'm looking to get some bigger ones as they're wearing out, not sure what yet, but I'm fairly limited for space.

not a very good picture

I use the pile method too......and i keep mine activated year round by just covering it with a black tarp...traps in alot of the heat and helps it to break down alot faster ....and i always add a few scoops of horse manure and that really gets the pile motivated before it gets cold outside ......

Galu, it was actually "poultry" grit I used, looks like small pebbles.  I put it into existing gardens, so I scattered and dug in trowelfuls of the grit, I didn't really measure.  I did it about 3 years ago, and the soil hasn't compacted yet.  Before that I had to amend the soil every year.  Now I just put on a thin layer of compost each year to feed the plants, but I don't have to dig it in to loosen it anymore. I highly recommend it.  I wrote more about it in this wiki:

http://www.blossomswap.com/wiki/granite-grit-for-compacted-clay-soils

boo these tumble that I have. Just hope the crank handle and all are still with it. For the last 5 - 6 years I havn`t set it up down there. It`s been in the shed, probably shoved to the back of it, if I know the ole dh.

My compost area at it's sloppiest.
 
The wire fence bin is on the left with the overflow to the side and back.
The bag holds the last of the screened stuff from last summer.
Behind the brush on the right, under the screen is the pile waiting to be screened this spring. It looks small now as it's about ready, it was 3 feet tall to start.
Yes, Boo. It's in a shady spot.

Boo, it is not that shady, it is hot and because the piles are not that high the worms work it up quick.  It stays moist because it is not in a lot of sun. 

If you go in the woods you see the good stuff you get from the floor I just add extra to what you would get if you took a walk in the woods.

I built this turner about 3 years ago and it works great. It will turn a batch in about 6to 7 weeks. John

boos post looks like the death star lol . I compost the old fashion way I have wood pallats stacked to form a box, I then go in with a shovel or pitch fork once in a while and move it around lol nothing to tecnical

You should check out a book called "teaming with microbes". I am almost done reading it, and it has changed my gardening world completely.

I like to compost with cats....

 

 

run kitty, kitty run!

 

Such a pretty cat. I had one like that many years ago that I named Tosha.

Kitty can't run, he's too busy trying to get himself run over.