Writers:

Freeze, Thaw, Decompose

Posted on Feb. 24, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. by Jill.

Compost thawed enough to turn it today.

This is the first winter I've kept up with the compost. At some point in every previous year, I've given up. I didn't have enough fall leaves saved up to provide the brown matter so important to achieving the right balance, or the snow got deep that I stopped going out for a while, then altogether.

But the fact is, once the thaw comes, all that frozen, intact food does turn into a satisfying mush very rapidly. There's something about freezing the waste first that makes the decomposition, once it starts, seem more rapid. (Has anyone else experienced this?)

Comments (3):

Thuma commented, on February 26, 2008 at 6:53 p.m.:

Compost is totally not worth it.

I saved up all my veggies etc. for 5 months and got about a thimble full of compost out of it. Guess the good news is there wasn't the waste -- but as for making enough soil to matter, forget it. I still had to buy the plastic bag full at the hardware store.

There were also a bunch of orange peels and stuff that didn't rot, and was just sitting there.

Jill commented, on February 27, 2008 at 9:37 a.m.:

Don't give up, Thuma! Or if you do give up, only give up for a little while and then try again in the spring.

Even though the amount of compost you get from a bin seems small when it comes out compared to the bulk of what went into it, that's still a good thing. All that bulky, space-consuming food waste is a major component of landfills, and you're keeping it out of there. Old food and carrot tops are NOT waste. They're usable and helpful materials that gets treated like garbage when we don't know what else to do with them.

Try chopping up those orange peels. Or leaving them out. Or letting the whole pile rot a little longer before using.

At the risk of sounding like a kook, my compost pile actually soothes me. When the pail under the sink is full, It takes me outside in the yard on days when I'd maybe rather stay indoors. When I open the lid on the outside bin, it's interesting to see what is going on. My thoughts turn to spring and planting and life.

And death, too, of course. Having a compost pile can give one courage about the whole cycle of life. Something that seems old and useless and dead gives new life to the organisms that decompose it, and then provides a fine start to new fresh food in the vegetable garden.

laurene commented, on March 2, 2008 at 10:28 p.m.:

Dear Thuma. Composting has a bunch of potential pitfalls, and that's why we laugh when people talk about composting being so easy. Its not. Making it work takes time and energy. But here are some ideas that might make your futuer conmpostuing more productive.

Did you add some good dirt to your compost to get it going? You don't really need one of those compost starters that they sell. A few handfuls of soil will really get it going. Check out this link:

http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/compos...

Was your bin in a place where it had enough heat? That helps too. Did you turn it?

Do you have a tree anywhere to get leaves from? That will fill up a compost bin in a minute, and then break down to, well, almost nothing. But you'll get a few good pail fulls if you are lucky.

I dont know what your living arrangement is but you might even find neighbors who want to give you more stuff to add to your compost. My neighbors contribute to mine. I know a woman who gets coffee grinds from the restaurant down her block. She swears those grounds are the best for her tomatoes.

You will always still need soil -- compost will enrich the soil but not take the place of it.

Alot of whether or not its worth it to compost can also depend on the bin you use. Some bins work better, easier, and faster than others. We have a few types of bins at the nature museum and if you wanted to look at them together sometime we could do that when it gets warmer. I just got a new one at home and even though I haven't produced a batch of usable compost with it yet, I love it. What does that say?

I found that the more veggies I ate, the more compost I could produce. Joining a local organic veggie subscription farm gave me lots of peels, cores, and other great stuff to add.

Lastly, did you know you can compost things like brown paper bags?

Let us know if any of these ideas are useful.

Laurene

Archives: