Any Composters Out There?



john gault

New Member
Apr 17, 2010
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[SIZE= 10pt][COLOR= black]I’m an avid composter, been doing it now for nearly five years. Just curious if anyone else composts and what method you use?[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 10pt][COLOR= black]When I first started I read many articles online and books from the library. I was undecided on which bin design I wanted to build and was NOT going to buy one from a store. As I was trying to decide which bin design I wanted, I decided I would just start burying my food waste and compostable material in a shallow hole in the back corner of my yard, then cover with leaves to trap in the moisture. Nearly five years later I have not built a bin and don’t plan to; I later found out there’s a name for my composting method – Pit Composting[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 10pt][COLOR= black]This method works perfect for me, because I don’t have all that much food waste and it breaks down very fast, because there are tons of organisms (large and small) that just devour it, vice in a bin where the bulk of the break down process is by microorganisms – my pile attracts tons of little composters, including numerous worms. There is practically no maintenance; the only real maintenance I do is turn the pile, which I do as I add food waste/compostable materials, much of which is bulky stuff to keep the pile aerated. I never need to turn the pile between adding food waste, so it’s practically maintenance free.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[SIZE= 10pt][COLOR= black]I’ve used the finished compost on my garden with great results, one of which was tomatoes that grew well over 7-feet tall and were very healthy. Also, my pile is near three large trees, so they’re getting the benefits of what their root systems can suck up. And it’s great to not ever need to buy fertilizer/soil amendments. [/COLOR][/SIZE]
 
I also compost. I use a pile method which I turn over with a fork. We generate large amounts of material to compost so it is beneficial to us. We own three parrots. I compost the newspaper along with all their droppings which really gives my pile some energy. I also use the compost when it is done cooking in my garden along with cow manure. My next door neighbor is a dairy farmer with over 250 head of cows. He is happy to give me as much as I want.