Compost Bins?

[Matthew Schenker]

Hey Everyone,
I'm kind of big into gardening -- a very relaxing getaway when my other hobbies become too tense!  (Are hobbies supposed to be tense?)

I built a compost bin a couple of years ago with wood and wire mesh (I'll post photos later).  Those black plastic ones just didn't seem right to me.

Just wondering, are there other gardeners here?  And did you build a compost bin?

Matthew

 

[sw1211]

I didn't build these but they might work for you,http://www.canadianhomeworkshop.com/proj/composter.shtml

 

[butzla]

Matt,  I'm kind of big into gardening too.  No vegetables,  perennial flowers.  I inherited a compost bin....a commercially available one.  It's drum shaped, the kind you crank over that sits up on a metal stand.  I was very happy to acquire for free as it seemed like a great idea and I know they aren't short money.   It does work well in that you don't have to turn it over with a shovel or fork but it is a workout to crank when full and it doesn't make compost any faster than the stationary type.  I equally prefer just dumping my lawn and leaf clippings in a pile and the next spring dig down for nice fresh "black gold".  Half the satisfaction of gardening to me is working the soil.

 

[Frank Pellow]

Between May and October, when I am in Toronto, I spend as much time gardening as I do woodworking.  We have always had a big vegetable garden and lately I am getting more into flowers and herbs as well.

I am attaching a picture of a compost bin that I first built 36 years ago and which has been moved twice since then and repaired many times.  The picture was taken 5 years ago -just before the last move and repair.

[attachthumb=#1]

It is made of cedar and has two bins, one twice as large as the other.  Each spring I place to compost from the smaller bin on the garden and transfer the partly worked compost from the larger bin to the smaller.

 

[iggy07]

Great topic! I'm just getting ready to build a 'real' bin in the next week or two. We also have one of the plastic one, but it really is not so easy reaching over the edges to turn the material inside.

I am also contemplating a drum type. I can get 55-gal plastic drums locally for $25 - solid top and bottom. It shouldn't be too hard to open a large hatch in the top and hinge it for access. Rather than turn it on rollers, my plan is to just roll it 20' back and forth on the ground, and then stand it up again in between. A drain in the bottom might be good to get some of juices out at times.

Otherwise, I will build one similar to Frank's. I have seen recommendations for 3 bins, but the two sizes Frank describes sounds very workable.

SQUARE FOOT GARDENS

I would strongly recommend the Square Foot Garden website, and the recent 2nd edition of Mel Bartholemew's book. We've been doing this off and on for 25 years, and it really does work like he says.

He spends a lot of time emphasizing composting. Raised beds are then filled with 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 coarse vermiculite. Roto-tilling and thinning are gone forever, fertilizing is minimal (or zero), and weeding becomes a trivial issue. Small batches (e.g. carrots, radishes) can be planted at 1-2 week intervals to provide a moderate continual harvest instead of 20 lbs all at once. Tools include (i) trowel, (ii) scissors, (iii) pencil. I won't bore you with the details since this is not a gardening forum, but take a look and see what you think.

iggy

 

[rcher]

I made a set of compost bins from plans in Sunset magazine over 20 years ago and I am still using them.  They consist of making three frames from redwood 2x2 stock.  Each frame is 3 ft. x 3 ft and 2 feet high.  The frames are covered with chicken wire.  The 2x2 uprights in the frame are about 1 inches proud of the top and inset on the bottom so that you can stack them securely.  You start by stacking the frames and filling them up to the top of the middle section.  Once a week you take the top frame off and make it the new bottom.  Fill it with the contents of the middle frame. Move the middle frame over and the fill it with the contents of the bottom frame, which becomes the new top.  if you do this religiously, it quickly produces great compost.  I will try and post a picture of the frames.

P.S. - You also make a top for the whole shebang so you don't have critters crawling in.

 

[Frank Pellow]

...
SQUARE FOOT GARDENS

I would strongly recommend the Square Foot Garden website, and the recent 2nd edition of Mel Bartholemew's book. We've been doing this off and on for 25 years, and it really does work like he says.
...

I agree with this recommendation.  I have the original book and have been using ideas that I picked up from it for about 25 years.

Is there enough new in the revised book, that I should purchase it?

 

[iggy07]

Yes, there is a lot of new information in the latest edition - we're finding it to be useful.

There is a lot more about composting. He claims (and I've had this confirmed) that the majority of compost in the stores is much too homogeneous, coming from single sources, usually waste materials from other processes. He suggests buying 4-5 different bags of compost to provide more variety. He makes the same recommendation for a home compost pile. Try not to put more than 20% of any one material in there. This was good to know because we have a large lawn, and it would be easy to end up with 80% lawn clippings. Once we get the lawn de-mossed, thatched, aerated, limed, overseeded, and fertilized, (next week) I intend to mow more often, and leave most of the shorter clippings as mulch in the lawn itself. That will still leave plenty to compost. In the meantime, we're adding kitchen trimmings, coffee grounds, some sawdust, and we'll be adding all trimmings from the veggie garden throughout the summer.

Other new items -- they have found that 6" deep beds are adequate for almost everything, with the exception of carrots and a few others. Saves considerably on soil -  although I still prefer about 11" (2 1x6 cedar boards).

Something else I'm going to try next year (my own invention) -- buy about 16 12"x12"x8"d square plastic containers with 1" lips on them. Fill them with Mel's Mix and plant them as individual sq ft sections. These can be planted very early in the season, and moved in or out of the garage to avoid frost in the early spring. Then I'm going to build a frame of 2x2's to hold these containers - 8' wide x 2' deep, and about waist high. It should be easy to mix and match various crops, move the individual containers around, plant flowers in some, etc. etc. Sounds good to me, but it won't happen until next year. These could also make good gifts to introduce kids to SFGing - perhaps 2-4 squares to get started.

ejg

 

[Eli]

I use worms. I've got two large plastic toolboxes, like for the back of a truck, about 20 bucks apiece, that all the kitchen scraps go in. I throw in shredded paper (the ultimate document security, make sure none is glossy),  dry leaves, or sugar cane mulch with the kitchen bin contents every couple of days, working one bin for about two weeks. When I switch from one bin to another, I take a few buckets of muck out of the one I'm about to use. Sometimes it has some chunks of food in it, but that just gives the worms that hitchhike a ride some food until they go local in the roots of whatever I'm using it for. The beauty of worm compost is you get both solid and liquid fertilizer off it, and no matter how much you add, you can never burn a plant or give it unbalanced nutrient. You can see a visual ka-boom in the plant's growth about a week after you apply it.

 

[Chris N]

How about this?  Maybe it's not large enough for everyday use?

NatureMill

 

[iggy07]

(I fully realize this is getting a little far afield from Festools, but it
a very interesting thread . . . )

The Nature Mill is very interesting! It's more expensive than a backyard bin. However (assuming it works as well as suggested), given the technology (heat, air, mixing) and construction it's not exorbitant for what it does. My problem is I'd have a tough time stuffing in the 30-gallon can of grass clippings each week!    ???

The worm bins also have a lot to recommend them, but we tried it about 3 years ago and couldn't really get the worms happy. We were puzzled at this, because several family members had just the opposite experience -- in fact, they were looking to give worms away!

iggy

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Everyone,
Wow, what a response!

I was busy cutting scapes from my garlic field, and dealing with some "virtual compost" these past few days, and did not have time to check in on this discussion.  I'll have to follow up on some of  the advice here and then get back to it.  In the meantime, I'm glad to know there are so many gardeners here.  If I'd known this before, I would have posted earlier about it.

So, what other garden tricks do you all know?

Matthew

 

[Chris N]

Iggy,

Why not mulch the grass and leave the clippings in the lawn?

Lawn Care Tips

I like the gator blade - it's thicker than my standard honda blade and seems to pulverize everything, including small branches and leaves.

Gator Blade

Chris

 

[iggy07]

Chris -

Yes, that's I'm planning to do in the near future. We have just treated with iron to kill moss, and expect to get de-thatching and aerating done next week. It's getting a little late for that, but the ground is still soft enough. With hot weather the clay turns into concrete. Once that is done, we'll get lime on and some re-seeding. Hopefully it won't be too hot for the new seed to get a head start; if so, I guess we'll have a thinner lawn until fall.

We've been here for a year, and haven't wanted to mulch until the dethatching was done -- it seemed like that would be making the problem worse instead of better.

Question about the Gator Blade -- They recommend a dual blade set-up, or a mulching kit. What is that? And will it work OK as a single blade?

Thanks for the suggestion.

iggy

 

[Eli]

-- in fact, they were looking to give worms away!

iggy

I don't get overrun with them because I move them out with the compost into the garden. Some say that you shouldn't release compost worms into the 'wild', but my experience has been that if they aren't fit, they don't last anyway. Little chance of them displacing natives! I pulled an enormous earthworm out of the ground down at the bottom of the lot. Anyway most garden sites are toxic dumps if they haven't been gardened before, the more worms the better to clean it up. If they can live in the soil, I'm happy to eat from it. Canary in a coal mine.

 

[Chris N]

Iggy,

I don't know about a mulching kit or a dual blade set up.  I think newer honda mowers have dual blades, but mine does not.

When I mulch I have a plastic "plug" that fits into the grass outlet chute.  The grass outlet chute is where the grass normally comes out if the bag is attached.

Mulching may not necessarily contribute to thatch build up: What is thatch?

After back-to-back years of significant grub damage I broke down this year and turned over the fertilization and weed control to a local turf care specialist.  Here is their take on dethatching: BioDethatcher

Chris

 

[daviszr1]

Wood magazine has a "Best Outdoor Project" special publication they put out in conjunction with Better Homes and Gardens.  There is a pretty decent looking composting station plans towards the back.  Not bad AT ALL.

 

[fidelfs]

I didn't build these but they might work for you,http://www.canadianhomeworkshop.com/proj/composter.shtml

My vote is for this one.  I built it a few years back and it was fun to do it, and It survived the Hurricane Ike  8)