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Making the Most of Your Compost Bin
Composting
is great. It's terrific for your roses and
fruit trees. And if you do it you'll be
teaching your children or grandchildren the
benefit of recycling certain waste. Some
cities offer free compost bins. Call your
local waste management agency for more
information. If they aren't helpful call
your councilperson.
What
should you put in your compost bin?
Different people put in different things. I
know of one person who puts in almost
everything left over from their family's
dinner plates. But that same person has
problems with rodents trying to get into
their compost bin. I don't recommend putting
meat or fatty foods in your compost. Or
butter, or foods with oil on them. I know a
green thumbed gardener who has amazing
compost. This is what he puts in his compost
bin: Old vegetables, used coffee grinds and
tea leaves, flower petals, tree leaves,
grass clippings (But go easy on them. Some
people fill it on up. A variety of things is
best.), hay, and fruit (Though not banana
peels. I was told they can take up to five
years to disintegrate. This makes sense.
Both my sister-in-law and I still see banana
peels rotting in our composts after six
months.). Whenever my greened thumbed friend
adds anything new to his compost he gets a
shovel and mixes everything together,
digging down deep. He lets the very lowest
layer of his compost decompose for six
months before he uses it. Here's a tip to
get things to decompose faster in your
compost pile- wet it down every week. (This
is for people who don't have snowy winters.)
Other people
have told me they put stale bread and
cereals in their compost. You can do this or
not. But I personally wouldn't recommend
putting any sugary items (surgery cereals,
granola bars with chocolate, or desserts) or
any food that has honey on it in your bin.
You might attract bees or ants. Also, don't
put in sticks. They don't rot fast enough
and it can clog up your compost door at the
bottom. (This happened to my sister.) From
my own personal experience I find that egg
shells don't seem to break down very fast. |
