Interestingly, our county and city are actually pushing people to compost. Of course, they're not pushing it because it is the right thing to do, they're pushing it because they want to reduce use of the landfill. We have two lots side-by-side - we live in one and our daughter and family live in the other. I have been burying intact kitchen (plant) waste for over three years. This western soil is VERY POOR, highly alkaline and the only effective natural way to improve it is by adding organic matter. I compost in two ways - I will dig a small hole in one of the beds or flower beds and just bury what is in the kitchen compost bucket - coffee grounds, tea bags, fruit and vegetable peelings, hair (after haircuts), egg shells, etc. No animal or baking waste. I just walk away and leave it alone and forget about it and it decomposes at it's own rate.

The other method is that in the middle of the garden area I have a big compost tumbler, a compost bin (a leftover watermelon bin from a local market), and a compost pile. I use a method that Carla Emery taught us a few years ago on a visit to us. We use the pile for leaves, grass clippings, bush fodder, rotten fruit from the trees, etc. The tumbler is almost exclusively for kitchen waste mixed with leaves and grass clippings. When it is about halfway decomposed, I bury it in the compost pile. The bin is strictly a receptacle to hold leaves and grass clippings. But it is also what I use to move the whole shebang around. I will pick the spot for the compost pile and updump the bin where I want it to be. Then I will actually move the "pile" to it. Remember, the new leaves and clippings are on the bottom. As I lop off the pile bit-by-bit, the newer stuff goes on top of the leaves and grass clippings. When I get down to the bottom of the pile all I have left is real compost which I amend to the beds. By moving the pile every year, you are actually hastening the decomposition process and amending the soil below the pile at the same time.

We compost everything we can get our hands on.

I compost my grass clippings and any other garden waste. I have a pretty small yard, so can't really go all out. If you get started composting, check your local laws. Where I am, you aren't allowed to compost food scraps or human waste.

Anyone out there composting? We jumped into it with both feet. If you are new to composting, I found Joseph Jenkins' book "The Humanure Handbook" most instructive. The book is available for sale on Amazon.

There are a lot of schools of thought on composting. Some folks say no meats, dairy products, oils. Jenkins said anything was fair game. Everything from the kitchen and much of the paper products end up in the compost bins. This has reduced our trash output by an increadible amount. Almost all of the first year's batch went to the asparagus. As soon as it comes to the top of the project list, we will be building an outhouse for collecting human wastes in a sawdust toilet to add to the bin. So far we have gotten one good batch, the second will be ready next spring. Litter from the chicken house keeps the pile pretty hot.

Our bins started out as squares constructed from pallets, similar to this design:

Before the first season was up, we could see a box of a single pallet on a side would not be adequate. We extended them to double capacity. When we first started, we threw scraps of fencing over the piles to discourage the dogs from digging through it. After a few months I noticed something had been in the bins rummaging around, so I lined the outside of the bins with chicken wire and added a lit. That seems to have done the trick. Whatever was in there was a larger animal - raccoon, possum or skunk. We still have mice running through it, I'm sure, but nothing as large as a rat can get inside.


First harvest - beautiful black fertilizer made from our garbage


Moving to garden last spring

Regards,
Pat