madmaxx53

I have made a compost pile before, and found it helped in many ways. I made it by pounding 4 tall stakes into the ground, and wrapping chicken wire around it. I used a hook so I could open one side up, and have it be a door, which is a good idea so you can open it, and use a shovel to mix it all around. I put some dirt, water, and every night I would take out all the left over food scraps (egg shells, banana peels, old lettuce, anything that was food, or could break down. Just make sure you chop the food particles up with a shovel so they break down easily. The water I poured on it every night kept the soil moist. If I ever saw any worms in my yard, I would grab them up and throw them in the compost pile too, they break up stuff real nice.

The compost pile helped save ALOT of space in the trash, saving our landfills, and helping me get some NICE soil.

happy composting

mad

[This message has been edited by madmaxx53 (edited May 07, 2000).]

Panama

Yup, composting is always a good idea. Here in Maine we have many outdoor growers that compost refuse for growing soil. I, myself, toss most of my shade leaf into the bin for the next years soil too. What shade leaf I don't compost I use for cooking.

Toke it easy, Pan.

dave420

Compost is excellent for plants.. you may want to throw in all your old newspapers too.. the main ingredient in any compost pile is carbon, and newspapers are all carbon. Then you need nitrogen to make it "cook" grass clippings or any green matter works good for that.. and you need the microbes from soil mixed in to break it all down. Keep it moist and a hot pile will decompose food scraps in a matter of days,, just don't throw in any grease or fat trimmings it kills the microbes. Pan if you live in Maine you should be throwing tons of seaweed and fish guts in yours, SW is loaded with trace elements, you'd see your plants shoot up so fast you could practically see em growing.