Composting

[peterk123]

I had one hell of a good one in mass. Figured we would try here in Montana, but not expecting it to go well. Boy, was I wrong.

 

[Varmint]

My wife grew tomatoes and some other things in a garden that we filled with our compost. I was amazed at how much flavor was in the tomatoes. It was like you could taste many subtle flavors in the tomatoes.

Store bought tomato’s taste like crap.

 

[EMTDAD]

I have one of those rotating composters.. been throwing kitchen scraps in it for about 6+ months.. not really sure what to expect as far as soil/compost.

 

[Uzi2]

20,000 cubic feet of free woodchips composting here all the time. Adds literally tons of nutrients to the soil and holds tons of moisture.

 

[Uzi2]

I have one of those rotating composters.. been throwing kitchen scraps in it for about 6+ months.. not really sure what to expect as far as soil/compost.

It will break down into rich compost. It's one of the best things you can add to a garden.

 

[EMTDAD]

It will break down into rich compost. It's one of the best things you can add to a garden.

I've never really done it with kitchen scrap. I have a pile I toss leaves and grass clippings into..

I added some compost starter to the tumbler to get things moving along. Thinking about getting a couple of tubs of red earthworms to toss in there as well.

 

[Jason m]

I've never really done it with kitchen scrap. I have a pile I toss leaves and grass clippings into..

I added some compost starter to the tumbler to get things moving along. Thinking about getting a couple of tubs of red earthworms to toss in there as well.

Years of doing my wood pile in the same spot, wood bark, chips and saw dust all have given me red worms the size of small snakes. I blows my mind how big those worms are when I uncover some damp leaves or some old bark, they are like 6-7''s long, I use that earth in the garden.

 

[Varmint]

I have one of those rotating composters.. been throwing kitchen scraps in it for about 6+ months.. not really sure what to expect as far as soil/compost.

That’s what we have they work great. We need a second one though, too much compost and the dirt doesn’t go as far as you’d think. Also if you keep adding to it you can’t remove the dirt.

 

[Uzi2]

I have one of those rotating composters.. been throwing kitchen scraps in it for about 6+ months.. not really sure what to expect as far as soil/compost.

That’s what we have they work great. We need a second one though, too much compost and the dirt doesn’t go as far as you’d think. Also if you keep adding to it you can’t remove the dirt.

I built one of these at my former residence but used iron pipe for the stand instead of wood. It worked very well, and fast!
We left it for the couple who bought our house when we moved as they were into gardening and I had much bigger plans. Now I turn 20,000 cubic feet of woodchips with a bucket on a tractor instead of hand rotating a barrel.

 

[TJ4]

I've never really done it with kitchen scrap. I have a pile I toss leaves and grass clippings into..

I added some compost starter to the tumbler to get things moving along. Thinking about getting a couple of tubs of red earthworms to toss in there as well.

Those rotating ones work well. If it gets too wet you can add in some brown materials like leaves or even some compostable boxes or paper bags chopped up. The best results are to have 2 of those where you rotate the older stuff to a second drum and add new materials to the first one. Or just one drum and then rotate out the material as it ages into a pile that you can rotate over.

When I had a garden a few years back my neighbor who has chickens asked if I wanted the chicken poo for my compost. When I mixed that stuff into my garden soil it was like the plants got injected with steroids they started growing so fast.

 

[Uzi2]

The tree cutting crew from the local electric utility stopped by yesterday wanting to know if they could dump their woodchips during their 60 mile right of way maintenance cutting route in the area.
I told them absolutely!

I told them I needed a couple of trees trimmed up and they said no problem, they'll do it within a week.

I'm saving them a 45 mile trip daily to their other dumping site so they were extremely grateful for permission to dump here.

I tossed the existing piles and moved a lot of the fully composted stuff to make space for the fresh stuff that will be dropped off for the next several weeks.
The existing piles have reduced to 1/3rd their original height and width from last year and the compost is beautiful.

Tomorrow I'll be loading my dump trailer and distributing a lot of the finished stuff to a couple of other spots on the property and starting a new large garden plot with about a 20 inch layer. It's been pretty rainy here, so I'll be letting the new spots dry for a few days before tilling and finishing.