Explain composting like I'm 5 please

[penguingrrl]

It seems like a lot of you here compost and some even have municipal composting, which is so cool! I want to start composting, especially since I now have a yard and will be trying some planting next year. The thing is, I literally know nothing about it. I vaguely suspect it has to do with using food waste in your garden, but have no idea what can be composted and what can't (can you do meat? any/all types of fruits and veggies?).

So, seriously like I'm 5 and just wandered in from the past when people cared not a bit about the environment.

[sam19]

No meat because it attracts animals. I'm a totally lazy composter who just piled up a bunch of dirt, grass, and straw with the occassional fruit, veggie or egg shells. Coffee filters and grounds are good too. We also put our rotting pumpkins in there and the next year we get more pumpkins from it lol. You're supposed to turn it but again, I'm a lazy composter. Shredded paper is good to go in there too.

[penguingrrl]

Cool, thanks everyone!

[bugandbibs]

I compost and have tried many different ways. Personally, I like an enclosed container. I have a large single barrel on a stand from Costco. You spin it to mix things up. I really like it, but would prefer the version they have now which is two smaller barrels on one stand.

I keep a medium sized lidded Rubbermaid container on my counter. I put in all veggie, fruit, eggshells, and coffee grounds. When it's full, I put it in the compost bin. I also add some green clippings and yard debris from our yard. Keep it moist and occasionally mix it to speed up the process. Simple.

Avoid meat, plant products with fertilizer or pesticides (from your yard) and dairy products.

[mominatrix]

We have municipal compost, which makes for VERY lazy composters, indeed.

We have one of those humungous trash /recycling containers on wheels. In it goes all yard waste, all food waste (including meat and dairy, as muni compost takes it), food soiled paper that can't go into recycling (including pizza boxes)... Lots of stuff.

For inside, we have one of those countertop compost pails with the charcoal filter lid.

We also use BioBags (buy them from Costco)... They're compostable plastic bags to line the countertop pail, which saves me from a really nasty cleaning job.

[fumbalina]

I compost meat and fats and have never had trouble from unwanted animals (insects are a given). I use a sealed container and add clippings occasionally. I would have preferred a spinning compost bin but I do not stir mine. I let it sit until it has no identifiable food scraps and use it on my trees.

It is not hard to fix if you mess up. If it starts smelling add plant material and it clears up pretty fast. If it is covered in ants add some water. There is a fix for every problem.

Keep in mind composting is basically a pile of rotting food waste and you will see how easy it can be.

If you don't want to buy a composer there are tons of YouTube videos on how to create your own.

[demandypants]

I too am a lazy composter. In the fall, I pack our container with leaves. Then dump my kitchen veggie and fruit scraps in every week or so year round. It end up balancing out in the end. I also keep my scraps in the freezer so they don't rot on my counter. We have had some bad fruit fly invasions a couple of summers. Plus we have freezer space to spare. We don't compost our grass in the bin. We just mulch it into the yard.

[waffletime]

Here's a decent list:

www.compostinstructions.com/what-you-can-and-cannot-compost/

[dirtyred]

Sept 26, 2015 18:24:03 GMT -5 tillie said:

It doesn't smell? My dogs wogs also never leave that alone, lol.

Dogs are insanely attracted to compost; if you have a pile (like I do) you need to put something up around it so the dogs won't get in it.

[chedifuen]

We prefer the enclosed, elevated bins that spin. We have a set from costco that we love and a second freestanding one. We put all out food scraps and most yard debris inside and turn once a week.

It's AMAZING to have compost for gardening, our yields have been insane since we started feeding the plants compost. Several times a year we empty the bins right into the garden and mix it in to the soil.

[MrsAxilla]

Sept 26, 2015 18:24:03 GMT -5 tillie said:

It doesn't smell? My dogs wogs also never leave that alone, lol.

I also need to know if it smells.  When we first moved our house, I wanted to garden and compost.  I mentioned to our neighbor and he was like "please, no!  It stinks!"  So we didn't.  

Also, what do you do with the compost?  What is the environmental benefit vs throwing it away?

[chedifuen]

Sept 26, 2015 22:36:17 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Sept 26, 2015 18:24:03 GMT -5 tillie said:

It doesn't smell? My dogs wogs also never leave that alone, lol.

I also need to know if it smells.  When we first moved our house, I wanted to garden and compost.  I mentioned to our neighbor and he was like "please, no!  It stinks!"  So we didn't.  

Also, what do you do with the compost?  What is the environmental benefit vs throwing it away?

I don't think it smells bad at all. I actually kind of like the smell, it's earthy and kind of forest-like. 

[winecat]

Sept 26, 2015 22:36:17 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Sept 26, 2015 18:24:03 GMT -5 tillie said:

It doesn't smell? My dogs wogs also never leave that alone, lol.

I also need to know if it smells.  When we first moved our house, I wanted to garden and compost.  I mentioned to our neighbor and he was like "please, no!  It stinks!"  So we didn't.  

Also, what do you do with the compost?  What is the environmental benefit vs throwing it away?

I don't think it smells bad- it smells like soil.  It's great for anything you plant from flowers to food.  If you throw the food away, it goes into the landfill and if it is in a plastic bag, it will sit there in the landfill as waste vs going back into the earth.  

[MrsAxilla]

Sept 26, 2015 22:40:08 GMT -5 winecat said:

Sept 26, 2015 22:36:17 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

I also need to know if it smells.  When we first moved our house, I wanted to garden and compost.  I mentioned to our neighbor and he was like "please, no!  It stinks!"  So we didn't.  

Also, what do you do with the compost?  What is the environmental benefit vs throwing it away?

I don't think it smells bad- it smells like soil.  It's great for anything you plant from flowers to food.  If you throw the food away, it goes into the landfill and if it is in a plastic bag, it will sit there in the landfill as waste vs going back into the earth.  

As I thought about it, I realized that - lol.  I wonder what would happen if the landfills ripped open those garbage bags?  Or required ones that decompose?  

[winecat]

Sept 26, 2015 22:50:46 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Sept 26, 2015 22:40:08 GMT -5 winecat said:

I don't think it smells bad- it smells like soil.  It's great for anything you plant from flowers to food.  If you throw the food away, it goes into the landfill and if it is in a plastic bag, it will sit there in the landfill as waste vs going back into the earth.  

As I thought about it, I realized that - lol.  I wonder what would happen if the landfills ripped open those garbage bags?  Or required ones that decompose?  

The decomposing ones require moisture (or maybe it's sunlight?) and oxygen to decompose, I think.  Once the bags get buried they don't get what they need to decompose.  

[jena]

If you stick with fruit and veggie scraps and use plenty of dead leaves then it will not smell. We put eggshells in ours, but I think some exclude them.

We dump it in flowerbeds. We rarely turn ours, so it takes longer to compost.

[dirtyred]

Sept 27, 2015 4:32:34 GMT -5 tillie said:

I think I'll stick with my disposal for food waste.

Anything you put down your sink garbage disposal still will most likely end up in a landfill.  It will also increase your sewer rates as waste water plants weren't designed to handle food scraps and the plants have to be modified and upgraded to deal with it, and that is mighty costly (my husband designs wastewater treatment plants, so I hear more about this than I want to).

[aurora]

We have municipal compost so I've been lazy, but for those who have sealed containers (as opposed to pileson the ground), do you buy and insert your earthworms?

[chedifuen]

Sept 27, 2015 8:12:19 GMT -5 aurora said:

We have municipal compost so I've been lazy, but for those who have sealed containers (as opposed to pileson the ground), do you buy and insert your earthworms?

We didn't buy worms but we added some scoops of dirt from the garden to get it going. Never totally empty it either, leave some compost and worms to start the next batch.