composting how to – Page 3 – Crazy About Compost

How to Start Balcony Composting in 15 Minutes or Less

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdVU7HVFMrU Balcony composting is a great way to reduce waste to the landfill while having fun making some great soil for next to no cost. For those that don't compost because they're grossed out by worms or don't have the time or space- this method may be the one for you. All you need is two 5 gallon buckets or similar containers and a drill with a 1/8" bit. Drill holes in the sides and bottom of the top bucket, and then place it into the bottom bucket. The bottom bucket functions as your leachate collection tray. Now add a layer of shredded cardboard/shredded leaves/straw in the bottom, followed by a layer of food scraps. Take note to avoid adding meat, dairy (crushed eggshells are fine), fish, pet waste or…

When is Your Compost Ready to Use? (video)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Hf_IcS_5U When is your compost ready to use? Some questions to ask yourself include: How does it look? Can you recognize any of the material? How does it smell? Is the material warm? Here I have a few different samples of compost...vermicompost, tumbler compost, commercial compost, and trench compost. What do you think of these samples? I feel like my tumbler compost and vermicastings could both go even longer before using them, but that they're still OK if I were to use them now. In fact, I'm going to use these samples for my next "Clash of The Composts!" experiment coming soon... stay tuned!

It doesn’t need to be fancy…

When I visited home for the holidays, I had to take a look and see what my mom's old composting area looked like. This really spun me out because I remember making this little frame out of cinder blocks a long time ago and it looked good. What's funny is that if you want to compost, you can make do with this just fine...just make space and add stuff to it in appropriate quantities. Next to this was a nice looking compost bin...again, it does the trick. You can add material nice and high and it stays fairly organized. Note the slits near bottom which double as a spot to anchor it to the ground as well as provide some needed air circulation. Way to go, mom! To start composting,…