Buying my first house which means I actually get a yard. The one I'm looking at will be hell to clear (rocky, scrub infested and uneven) but with some work I'll be able to get it leveled off and ready for planting. I'm thinking with mowing the front yard and all the paper/cardboard shredding I do I'll get a compost barrel and make my own compost. As bad as the soil looks back there it'll need all the help it can get, heh. So anyone got experience doing it? Do you use a barrel or just mound it? How hard was it to get started? How hard is it to maintain? What kind of results did you get with your growing vs before you started using compost?

 

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My father-in-law composts. He just has it in a large mound bordered on three sides by a wood wall. All they do is dump all their veggies/fruit leftovers in there, and once every couple of weeks, he mixes it around.

 

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YAY Composting!


There are a variety of methods you can use. Depending on how much you want to spend and how much size you have available and how much you think you will be adding to the compost each week are the key limiting factors.


A cheap method is to go to the back of any grocery store and get some wood pallets. Set yourself up a simple box using 4 to construct the outer walls, attach them together with chicken wire. You'll want to find a lighter weight pallet for a lid.

This method is nearly free and will do the job very well.


The key to good compost is to keep the pile moist and turned. A pitchfork is handy for this. Just stir things up every week or so.


http://www.compostguide.com/links.html is a link that will take you to more reading information on the topic than you want.


You can always contact one of the university extension agents in the city you live they should have good info as well.

 

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Yeah I've been Googling around on the subject. There is a ton of info out there which is handy. I figure on setting a corner aside and using a pitchfork to turn it. I was going to invest in a good barrel but I think there is enough room back there to make a mound work.

 

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I've thought about composting especially since I'm wanting to start gardening more. I was afraid they might smell and the neighbors would complain. Do they smell? Or, if done properly do they just smell like compost?

 

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From all my reading it only stinks if it isn't balanced right.

 

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They don't smell at all if you balance your "green" and "brown" material correctly. Fresh yard refuse is green, dried material is considered brown. Keeping your pile stirred up with a pitch fork, about once a week, will also keep the smells down. Also keeping the pile "moist" will help. Good luck.

 

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