Interested in composting

[Angela in TN]

We have for the last few years had a backyard garden, it's a pretty decent size but not ginormous:D. I'd like to start composting but I have NO CLUE where to start. We live in a neighborhood with neighbors that are pretty close so I don't want to gross people out with my composting endeavors. Are there any great books, websites or whatever that you could point me to that have helped you, say "Composting for Dummies"? TIA!

[amy g.]

I started with a metal trash can, cut the bottom out, and drilled air holes around the sides. Place it somewhere on grass or dirt.

One important part is to balance greens (kitchen waste, grass cuttings) and browns (I use dead leaves or used animal bedding). If it gets smelly or buggy or too wet, you need more browns.

It is hard to turn the pile in a trash can, so I just layer the ingredients, wait a few months, and dump it onto a tarp to mix, then return it to the can. I repeat until it is dark and sweet- smelling with no recognizable ingredients.

I just tried a new composting accelerator. I mixed molasses, apple cider vinegar and fresh horse manure in a 5 gallon bucket of water, and poured it in my piles. It really worked. When I turned the piles this morning, the center of them were actually steaming!

[Mekanamom]

See if your city or county offers classes! We might just be super lucky here, but my county offers classes 2x/year in many different locations. They even give residents free composters. (Kind of cheap black plastic containers with vents... but it's something!)

I don't compost at all any more, because the chickens eat most of the kitchen scraps, and the sheep eat the weeds.

I've never used one, but these compost tumblers have always looked really easy to use to me: Mother Earth News article (http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/2003-04-01/Compost-Tumblers.aspx)

Good luck!

[Colleen]

Here are a few replies to the last question about composting.

http://67.202.21.157/forums/showthread.php?t=6068&highlight=compost

[Angela in TN]

Here are a few replies to the last question about composting.

http://67.202.21.157/forums/showthread.php?t=6068&highlight=compost (http://67.202.21.157/forums/showthread.php?t=6068&highlight=compost)

Note to self always search forums before posting! I don't know how I missed that post. Thanks!:D