Composting?

keegantaylor

I am looking into the idea of composting at our home, but I have no idea how to get started.  Ideally, we would have a bin outdoors. Does anyone have any good ideas or resources I can check out? 

We live in Omaha, NE where the summers get hot and humid and winters can be brutally cold...don't know if that matters or not...

toadstool

I just use a trash can with a lid, and I drilled holes all over the sides of it. I have two cans, one that I currently add to and the other one is baking aka breaking down. You can google composting and get a list of "greens" and "browns." You just need to try to put fairly equal amounts of greens and browns mixed into your pile. I turn mine weekly to give the bottom of the pile air. That's about it. It pretty much takes care of it's self. Once the pile breaks down you can use it on your plants or spread it over your yard.

suzymarie

I live in MN, so similar weather.  We have 2 systems.

System 1 is the lazy outdoor one.  It is basically a big pile of yard waste (leaves, garden scraps, etc).  We turn it every once in awhile and don't pay attention to our greens and browns.  It doesn't compost very fast bc of our laziness but we don't care. 

System 2 is indoor worm composting.  Bc we have a very food-oriented dog, we can't put any food scraps in the outdoor5 compost pile.  Instead, all our raw veggie scraps go to the indoor worms.  It is a big rubbermaid tub with some holes drilled in the sides and lid.  It produces lots of lovely compost which I harvest every few months year round. 

pixieprincss

In my blog I have composting info. Here are the composting entries. In VA it gets cold, but not Nebraska cold, so we compost outside all year. I like PPs suggestion of doing vermicomposting in uber-cold winters.

Lisa78

We have this one. You can definitely do it cheaper but we wanted something that tumbled and wouldn't bother the neighbors!

I absolutely love it. And while it's easy to get overhwelmed (I got so stressed about getting an equal amount of green and brown) it's really pretty simple and there is plenty of wiggle room in your ratios. As my friend said, "stuff just rots!" Just make sure you remember to tumble once a week or so.

Good luck!

SuperGreen

I just did a post above, "All About Composting", which has lots of great info to get you started.  You'll love reducing your waste, and making your garden healthy at the same time!

Jen&Joe06

I am in Ontario Canada so probably similar weather. We have a bin with a lid under our sink. The outside we have this bin. I empty the bin from under the sink 2 times a week and stir the composter each time.

I keep a bin of shredded paper in the garage and add a bit of that each time I add food scraps. It helps to get rid of our sensitive information and also balance out what we put into the composter.