Comments on: Composting year round http://www.compostinstructions.com A guide to making your own compost. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:02:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=8679 By: Mike Read http://www.compostinstructions.com/composting-year-round/comment-page-1/#comment-1457 Mike Read Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:40:18 +0000 http://compostinstructions.com/?page_id=31#comment-1457 I have a 10x10ft. garden with top-soil, leaf-mold; I like to bury fresh veggie scraps and dead plant materials, prunings, etc. in it over the fall/winter after summer crops are done. Would a shredder help to grind the plant material into smaller chucks? ------------ Absolutely! A shredder or a chipper shredder are great for grinding stuff down into smaller chunks. Smaller chunks decompose and compost a lot faster than big stuff. This is a popular <a href="http://www.cleanairgardening.com/leafshredder.html" rel="nofollow">leaf shredder</a>. If you don't have a chipper shredder, you can sometimes pile a bunch of stuff up and run over it with your lawnmower a few times to grind it up. Be very careful if you use that method though, please. I have a 10x10ft. garden with top-soil, leaf-mold; I like to bury fresh veggie scraps and dead plant materials, prunings, etc. in it over the fall/winter after summer crops are done. Would a shredder help to grind the plant material into smaller chucks?

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Absolutely! A shredder or a chipper shredder are great for grinding stuff down into smaller chunks. Smaller chunks decompose and compost a lot faster than big stuff. This is a popular leaf shredder.

If you don’t have a chipper shredder, you can sometimes pile a bunch of stuff up and run over it with your lawnmower a few times to grind it up. Be very careful if you use that method though, please.

]]> By: Charlotte http://www.compostinstructions.com/composting-year-round/comment-page-1/#comment-1433 Charlotte Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:05:29 +0000 http://compostinstructions.com/?page_id=31#comment-1433 I live where it snows and I will be leaving for the winter. Should I cover my compost pile with a tarp for the winter? ---------- You could go either way, really. A tarp that gets covered by snow might work as a layer of insulation for the compost pile. But I'd probably just leave it open, so that when the snow melts at the end of the season, it keeps the pile moist at the same time. I live where it snows and I will be leaving for the winter. Should I cover my compost pile with a tarp for the winter?

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You could go either way, really.

A tarp that gets covered by snow might work as a layer of insulation for the compost pile.

But I’d probably just leave it open, so that when the snow melts at the end of the season, it keeps the pile moist at the same time.

]]> By: Steel Buildings Used For Composting | SteelMaster Buildings http://www.compostinstructions.com/composting-year-round/comment-page-1/#comment-1429 Steel Buildings Used For Composting | SteelMaster Buildings Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:52:15 +0000 http://compostinstructions.com/?page_id=31#comment-1429 [...] Many people believe that composting doesn’t work in the fall or throughout the winter because of the cold weather, but fall may actually be the best time to start a compost bin. Your new compost bin will be a great place to discard fallen leaves, remains from your last crop, or dead summer plants. Not to mention any food scraps from all of your visiting holiday guests. Cooler weather does mean that your compost will decompose a little slower than it would in the warmer months, but that’s okay. The process of decomposition creates heat on its own; plus there are enough warm days left this fall to get the action going. To learn more about composting year round, click here. [...] [...] Many people believe that composting doesn’t work in the fall or throughout the winter because of the cold weather, but fall may actually be the best time to start a compost bin. Your new compost bin will be a great place to discard fallen leaves, remains from your last crop, or dead summer plants. Not to mention any food scraps from all of your visiting holiday guests. Cooler weather does mean that your compost will decompose a little slower than it would in the warmer months, but that’s okay. The process of decomposition creates heat on its own; plus there are enough warm days left this fall to get the action going. To learn more about composting year round, click here. [...]

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