Expert: Greg - 4/18/2004

Question
Hi Greg,
(My apologies if you receive 2 copies of this essage).  
Thank you in advance for taking my question. It's very generous of you to do this.
We produce a lot of green kitchen scraps that we'd like to compost for environmental reasons. Since we live in a condo, we don't really have any yard waste (though we could always venture into the forest if we needed to collect dead leaves to get the right mixture). I've done some reading, and both a rotating barrel composter and a vermi-composter look interesting, but I am certainly open to other options. If we went with an outdoor composter, it would have to go right outside our window. So for both our sake and that of our attached neighbors, it should be fairly enclosed, and produce little odor and flies. Alternatively, if we went with an indoor composter, it should have similar qualities. We live in northern Massachusetts, so we also wonder, if we had an outdoor barrel composter, what would happen after a winter like this last one. Would we wind up in Spring with a barrel full of thawing, uncomposted material, that would be too much to compost all at once, and start to rot?
So many questions... what do you recommend?
Thanks!
-David


Answer
Hello David

The Key to Composting, no matter what the means you use, is the proper Ratio of Carbon <brown matter> to Nitrogen <green matter>.

Heat will be the main factor to quick decomposition, so if you use a Tumbler, or another means, try to locate it in Direct Sunlight. The smaller the matter that goes into composters, the quicker it will rot. With a Tumbler, you will be adding things as you fill it up. At some point you will have to cease adding and let everything Decompose. What to do with additional matter while this happens? Quite frankly I don't know?

They market a Dual Tumbler Composter in Mother Earth News, and this sounds like your Ticket.

Leaves are a Great source of Carbon matter and should be the base of your Compost, start with a layer about 4". Add your kitchen scraps, Lawn clippings, etc. to a layer 1". Water this to dampness but do not oversoak. Then add a topping of regular garden soil, this is your activator. Continue to layer to this proportion till you reach the level desired. Turn this as directed per instructions that come with the Composter.

How to store matter when the weather gets cold is a problem that I don't have an answer for, but I would make sure that nothing is left in the Composter over Winter, so my only answer to that would be to stop composting by Labor Day.


I hope this helps, but if I have missed something here, please don't hesitate to E-Mail back with a follow up question.

The Best of Luck

Greg