True Confessions . . . can you help a derelict?

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I'm green. Really, I am. I don't compost, though. I think the thing that has alway stopped me is how the online guides and directions always say that your compost MUST be thus-and-such% of this, thus-and-such % of that, thus-and-such % of the other, and thus-and-such % of the nuther. They start tossing around chemicals and compounds, nutrients and nitrogens. It's all the percentages and oxygen imbalances that keep me bemsed and bewildered. If I could just toss in my kitchen waste, yard waste, et c and know that it would all come out right in the end, I'm sure I'd commit.

Experienced composters, can you help?

[Heather in the Kootenays]

I toss it all in, water it sometimes, and it's always fine. I'm sure it would be richer in nutrients if I did it properly but ya know, there aren't enough hours in the day to worry about compost.

[KrissiK]

We just throw it in this compost bin I got at Costco and ignore it. It's getting a little strange right now, so I'm not sure what we're doing wrong. My mom just throws everything on a pile under some black plastic and waters it occassionally and it turns out great.

[myfunnybunch]

I found the guidelines for making compost the "right" way overwhelming too.

So I tossed everything in the compost pile, stirred it up with a garden fork every once in a while, and voila! Compost! Beautiful rich dirt. Every once in a while I need to find some dried material--leaves, grass, etc.--to keep the pile in balance, but I just call that by eye...er, and nose, sometimes.

Maybe someday I'll try to do it the right way, but for now what I'm doing seems to be working.

Cat

[Andie]

I'm green. Really, I am. I don't compost, though. I think the thing that has alway stopped me is how the online guides and directions always say that your compost MUST be thus-and-such% of this, thus-and-such % of that, thus-and-such % of the other, and thus-and-such % of the nuther. They start tossing around chemicals and compounds, nutrients and nitrogens. It's all the percentages and oxygen imbalances that keep me bemsed and bewildered. If I could just toss in my kitchen waste, yard waste, et c and know that it would all come out right in the end, I'm sure I'd commit.

Experienced composters, can you help?

http://momslivinggreen.blogspot.com/2007/09/lazy-composting.html

I'm not experienced. (Unless you count a week...) We just started a compost bin (modified garbage can) in the back yard. Google "lazy composting" and "trash can composting" and you should get some very simple methods. HTH!

[Jill, OK]

Just pay attention to what you're absolutely not supposed to put in (dog poo, meat scraps), and keep what they suggest as ratios (blah blah for nitrogen, etc.) in mind, and just throw stuff in.

Water it occasionally, turn it once in a while (ours is just a wire cylinder that can be picked up and moved), and eventually...it will all break down, lol. (The suggested ratios and detailed instructions, if I'm not mistaken, will give you quick results, and a really awesome compound. If you don't need it right away, and you're doing it at least in part just to do something better with your compostable stuff than stick it in the garbage, then just start throwing stuff in! Keep reading about it, and pretty soon you'll have a feel for when you need to put in some grass clippings, or leaves, or coffee grounds...)

[Rosie_0801]

You could try worms to get you started. If you stick your kitchen scraps in the blender then pour them into the worm farm, they will be happy little wormies. We just cracked our worm farm open this weekend, and I am now optimistically waiting for sprouts in the garden.
I have started a compost pile, but it's been sitting there doing very little for months and months, but seems to be doing something now the weather has warmed up a bit. I don't think compost is the thing to do if you are in a hurry. If you are not in a hurry, you don't have to worry, do you? I think mine would do a bit better if I turned it occasionally, but I'm pregnant and not feeling that way inclined. Dh would rather spend 9 hours a week grocery shopping than half an hour a week in the garden, so there is no use asking him. Perhaps when the kids are older I'll set composting as their chemistry project. I get a certain amount of happiness from having a compost pile, even if it doesn't do much. I've spent so much time waiting for it, I'm considering bagging it all up when we move house in a few months. I think that might be a bit ridiculous, but living in an area that doesn't really have topsoil makes a person appreciate dirt. Or I do, anyway.
:)
Rosie