any of you hippies compost your waste?

[52-80 19374]

I inherited a compost pile when I bought my house.  It's a 1 cubic yard pile fenced in a a crate/pallet thing.

 

I've added raw organic waste, some twigs and leaves, grass cuttings, and so on to it, and replenish with gardening soil from the store.  Occasionally I dig at it with a claw and hoe thing to keep it nicely mixed and aerated. 

 

Thing is I've only managed it through this winter, which more or less freezes things, so I can't tell if the compost is active.  Never seen worms burrowing through there though.

 

Now that Spring is starting again, do I need to buy some worms (from a bait shop??) and drop them in there?  Or just let nature do it's work?  Never seen many works in the yard and garden either....

[RDCanecutter 26855]

If by "compost" you mean "sling coffee grounds, eggshells, bits and pieces of vegetables randomly in the general direction of the garden", then yeah, we compost.

[bernorange 8385]

Is the compost sitting directly on the ground?  If so, earthworms will find it.  If there is a barrier between it and the ground, you can add earthworms if you like, but it's not absolutely required.  Bacteria/fungi will do the job over time too.

This is a good (and short) book on the subject:  https://www.amazon.com/Let-Rot-Composting-Down-Earth/dp/1580170234

If you are going to use this compost to grow edibles (veggie garden, etc.), you might want to stop adding grass clippings to the pile if you spray your yard with weed killers or pesticides.  Leaves also decompose very slowly.  If you want to add leaves, you should chop them up to speed up the process.  Twigs/branches should not be added to the pile.

 

[Lerka Lerka 1095]

2 hours ago, 52-80 said:

Or just let nature do it's work?

Yep. 

[beer 3268]

I pile up my beer cans and spent shotgun shells

[Parliament 14564]

Get you a pitchfork or similar and rake it around some. Need air in there.

[Gene Parmesan 4062]

I shit in my yard.

[Gil Bang 26177]

I shit in his yard too.  

Usually after I bang his wife. 

[Lazarus Bocanegra 311]

I will just throw whatever earthworms I find while I'm doing other gardening into the compost pile.  I've always been hesitant about buying worms because they'll be red wigglers, and I don't know about introducing them into the system.  

Other than that, sounds like you've got it handled. 

[Grippe 323]

I have a dual bin setup out in the yard.  What really works great is to get a specialized bucket to take stuff out every couple of days:

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Countertop-Odorless-Carrying-Charcoal/dp/B07FJNFN2J/ref=asc_df_B07FJNFN2J/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=288879357798&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3063148056381937078&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028275&hvtargid=pla-495771380598&psc=1

[elfenix 34661]

^^ i bet that goes great with the rachel ray garbage bowl your wife bought

[Grippe 323]

25 minutes ago, elfenix said:

^^ i bet that goes great with the rachel ray garbage bowl your wife bought

I was thinking the same exact thing last night while I was banging your mom! Amazing! (well, your mom wasn't, it was like throwing a hot dog down a hallway)

[Sbbruin 22082]

On 2/20/2019 at 8:41 AM, Gene Parmesan said:

I shit in my yard.

My dog shits all over our yard.

[Texaus 389]

I used to save the seeds from my 80’s swag and throw into grandpa’s compost pile when I visited. He was constantly pulling dope out of his garden.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

I have a 55 gallon drum with the top cut of.   I put a ton of stuff in there including cardboard.   It breaks down eventually.  My problem is I had a rather bad roach infestation over the summer.   

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4998]

2 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

My dog shits all over our yard.

I shit all over your mom in your yard. She says it makes her feel young again.

[bernorange 8385]

10 hours ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

I have a 55 gallon drum with the top cut of.   I put a ton of stuff in there including cardboard.   It breaks down eventually.  My problem is I had a rather bad roach infestation over the summer.   

Roaches love cardboard.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11856]

On 2/20/2019 at 5:57 PM, Grippe said:

I have a dual bin setup out in the yard.  What really works great is to get a specialized bucket to take stuff out every couple of days:

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Countertop-Odorless-Carrying-Charcoal/dp/B07FJNFN2J/ref=asc_df_B07FJNFN2J/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=288879357798&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3063148056381937078&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028275&hvtargid=pla-495771380598&psc=1

City of Austin has a composting program where they provide a bin for yard waste and other household stuff.  So we have one of the above and chuck it in the dumpster once a week.  

[SHOOTER12 8883]

On 2/20/2019 at 10:41 AM, Gene Parmesan said:

I shit in my yard.

Was just going to ask if that counted.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3873]

On 2/22/2019 at 8:50 AM, bernorange said:

Roaches love cardboard.

Probably got a nice crop of silverfish as well.