When I took over the house, I was determined to recycle as much kitchen and garden waste as possible. There was already a compost pile set up but it was looking pretty dry and dead. After a few loads of grass clippings I managed to breathe some life into it last summer. I've been pretty dilligent about saving coffee grounds, lemon rinds, carrot peels, etc. from the kitchen but I doubt at nearly enough volume to make a difference. I'm still not getting that black gold from my compost pile that gardeners crave.
This year I'm making some changes:
1) Grass clippings again, these seem to have gone composty the quickest
2) All kitchen waste is getting chopped before it goes on the pile. I'm still finding whole lemon shells from last season in the pile.
3) Diligent turning of the pile at least twice a month. I got this neat tool that makes the job a whole lot easier.
If I'm feeling ambitious at the end of the season, I may set up a three bin system.
2 comments:
Composting is an addicting pastime and it takes some trial and error to get the balance of carbon and nitrogen just right.
I'm still fine tuning my "recipe", but there's been a dramatic drop in the volume of garbage I put at the curb each week.
When I'm trying to get my compost cooking, I'll get some compost starter (gardeners.com) or use some Rid-X, which has all the beneficial microbial stuff at a more reasonable price
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