Start Your Composters!
By now, many of our compost piles are depleted. There just never seems to be enough. Luckily there are always plenty of weeds, dead heads, trimmings and overgrown zucchini to start all over again. If you have a compost post pile already, it's probably time to to turn it. That's one of the first chores to be overlooked when things heat up in the summer. If you don't have a compost pile, silly you. It's free fertilizer and it really isn't that much work. As they say, compost happens.
There is no better time to start a compost pile than in the fall and fall is just around the corner. The weather is cool enough to work comfortably, there’s usually plenty of rain to keep the pile moist and you have all that plant debris from cleaning up and pruning back your garden beds. Even if your area gets too cold for the pile to cook all winter, it will certainly be compacted enough to give you lots of space to add to it in the spring. Don’t let all that wonderful raw material go to waste this fall. Get a new compost pile started ASAP, with some help from this video.
- What is Compost?
- Video: How to Start a Compost Pile
- Composting in a Small Space
- Adding Compost to Your Garden
- Trench Composting - Composting in the Garden
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Comments
Whats wrong with just a pile on the ground?
Nothing is wrong with a pile on the ground. These are just suggestions, in case you want your compost faster. The important thing is not to waste free fertilizer for your gardens.
I`ve had a compost bin for years. Free fertilizer It`s 6×8 ft with a full gate on one end. It works very well. It`s an advantage for me to use in garden and flowers. You can view the flowers I have on myspace. I also have okra that`s 10 ft tall and have to pull it over to cut. I feel it`s better than any fertilizer you can buy. http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=405999127&albumId=796626
hi marie,
this morning i had my last straw with composting at my house. bit o’ history: i grew up composting in Las Vegas. we always had just a hole that we threw all our kitchen scraps into, maybe some yard scraps (but there was a different pile for that). i even worked for a composting outreach effort in college! so, naturally im composting now that i have my own home. im digging small (1.5′x1.5′x1.5′ -ish) holes in my sectioned “garden” (sieved alkaline dirt + steer manure: pls see pic) and covering w/dirt once full, then turning a few weeks later. i have SO MANY PESTS! roaches at night, earwigs when its turned, misc. beetles and this morning i unearthed a huge red-ant nest. i was so frustrated, i just sprayed the whole area w/copius amnts of bug spray: pool decision for garden area.
PLEASE HELP! its hot here so everything in there dries up during the day, but moisture at night attracts roaches. i can’t NOT compost! please give me your advice, thanx!
~mary*
Our compost had maggots in it. What can we do to prevent that happening?
Mary and Ramona, you’re going to get insects in any compost pile. For the most part, they help break it down. I’m surprised that a compost pile in Las Vegas doesn’t heat up enough to kill them, though.
Compost piles are the perfect habitat for many insects, especially in the winter. They’re damp and warm and hidden away. But I can appreciate that you don’t want roaches, ants, etc. close to the house. Generally, if a pile gets hot enough to cook, it will cook the insect eggs too. Frequent turning also helps, as does grinding the material before you put it in the bin. But the only way to keep most insects out is to screen the compost bin and make sure it seals tight. Small screening, like window screen, is necessary.
However, if the insects aren’t in danger of coming in the house, you can just let them be. Roaches come and go. They don’t usually stay permanently in a pile. Maggots are just baby flies and, according to Texas Extension, they not only help breakdown the compost, “…the flies inoculate the compost with beneficial bacteria from other sources.”
One last idea is to leave the compost open during the day so the birds can find it and feast.
For those of you who are having trouble outdoors with composting and pests, you may consider trying an indoor worm bin. Marie is right and you will have to deal with pests no matter how you compost, but a small worm bin indoors can keep you composting during the coldest months of the year without having to trudge outside.
Great idea, Jen. Solves the problem of attractive pests and keeps you going all year.