Will My Compost Pile Work Based On My Description?
Right now I have a bucket that im collecting vegetable and fruit scraps in, but we're planning on putting it in the backyard soon. Will I have compost in time for summer? What can I do to make it compost faster?
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You would be better to start a compost heap outside. You can make it from wire (a 3 – 4 ft circle about 3 ft high) or wood (4 posts in a 3 ft square about 3 ft high nail wood up 3 sides leaving the front open), or buy a plastic compost bin.
You can put almost anything on the compost heap except meat or fish. As long as it is in layers. I started mine with a layer of grass cuttings then some kitchen scraps (fruit n veg), then some ripped up newspaper, garden leaves, more grass and so on. Even got some straw to put in it.. Every 3 months I turned it over. That was last year, and it is looking good now. So am leaving that alone for now and starting a new one for next year.
Hope that helps
Beulah
A single bucket is too small, and if all you’re putting in is vegetable and fruit scraps, it will go into anaerobic decomposition and turn into slime. The minimum size for a compost pile is about 3 x 3 x 3 feet, and it should be composed of a mix of “browns” – high-carbon materials like dried leaves, straw, paper, and sawdust – and “greens” – high-nitrogen materials like grass clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps (food waste in general), green leaves, and used coffee grounds. These can be layered or mixed together. The pile should be turned every week or two to mix the dry outside into the moist inside. The whole thing should be kept damp (”like a wrung-out sponge” is the way it’s most often described) but not dripping wet.
All you have to do to make compost is throw a bunch of organic material into a pile, and sooner or later, it’ll be compost. You don’t actually have to “do” anything: it *will* rot all by itself. As one famous horticulturist said, even if you do it badly, you’ll still make good compost.
The best and fastest compost is produced when you throw in a large variety of organics (all plant-based — no meat/fat scraps, bones, or kitty litter), in a large enough pile that they can generate enough heat to rot, with aeration to allow a sufficient number of microbes to grow and do the composting (earthworms help, too), and enough moisture to keep the microbes healthy without drowning them.
If you only produce a small bucketful of scraps in a week (or there is some other reason that building a “proper” compost pile isn’t desirable), then just dig a hole in your lawn, pour the bucketful of raw scraps in, and fill the hole back in, tamping the original grass back on top. This is truly minimalist and laissez-faire composting! But it really works.
what you are going to have it a stinking mess. you need mass. get some wire fencing (cheap) and make a circle 3-4 ft in diameter. its usually comes in 4ft high rolls. add you scraps to your leaves and grass, then you will have something, besides rotten veg scraps. you will have to let nature take its course. if you want fast results, go buy some.