How To Compost – Page 84 – Crazy About Compost

Help My Compost Pile! – Red Frog Beach, Panama

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKlH9pO5V94 While I was on vacation in Bocas del Toro, Panama, I discovered a compost bin at the Palmer Tent Lodge on Red Frog Beach. It's always nice to see a composting system in place when traveling, or anytime really. Of course I had to take a peek! It looked like the majority of the bin's contents were food scraps, with all of the cardboard laying on top in sheets. There was a good deal of bugs and the contents seemed a bit dry. I decided to help out by shredding up the cardboard into smaller pieces and mixing it in with the pile. This will help speed up the process a bit and get the pile in balance. They also had a nifty finished compost bin next to it,…

The Truth About Composting Paper Cups

Can you compost paper cups? The answer is yes, no and depends. In the same spirit as my last post on composting waxed paper, I emailed a bunch of companies that produce paper cups and asked them if their cups contained a plastic liner, and if so, what kind was used. With the exception of Solo and Chinet, all the other companies got back to me (although Dart and Solo appear to be part of the same conglomerate, and Dart replied). I couldn't tell if the customer service people were weirded out by my questions...am I the only person asking this? Probably close to it, but hopefully not the only one. My research into Solo was definitely the most peculiar. I had no idea there was a (terrible) song dedicated…

Compost – Controlling Smells

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAWlOiYAyH8 This is a nice and short clip on how to keep the odors down in the compost pile. In the spring time is when it's trickiest to do, as the extra rain can get your pile a bit too soaked. Quick tips to keeping the pile healthy: -Moisture level (wrung out sponge consistency) -Aeration (air needs to be able to circulate, so mix your contents well to avoid clumping) -Content size and mix: ratio of browns to greens (3 to 1 ratio of shredded browns to greens) Turning the pile helps, but I don't think it's overly required, especially in the beginning stages of the pile (two weeks) when it's gaining heat and working well on its own. Good luck!