This is our bin we've had for a decade. We add yard waste, pizza boxes, kitchen waste. But the grass, sticks, pizza boxes & egg shells don't break down much. Or just really really slowly. What low effort maintenance would you recommend? Or is there an element that we're missing that should be added?
Last picture is the final product being added to the garden from the bottom layer of the bin. I
by HTOutdoorBro
15 Comments
Maybe it needs more oxygen. Try turning it over once a week.
Pee on it!
Egg shells won’t break down much at all, so it’s best to break them up as much as you can so they’re more fine. I’d also recommend ripping up the cardboard, even if it’s just into quarters will help it break down much faster.
It looks quite dry. Add a bit more moisture
A few factors to consider:
Ratios: you want about 3:1 high carbon “browns” to high nitrogen “greens”
Consistency: the smaller the pieces, the quicker the decomposition. A whole box is going to decompose a hell of a lot slower than a shredded box (many people use paper shredder to shred cardboard for their compost).
Water: you need moisture for good decomposition, not soaking wet, but to they point you’d get a drop or two if you squeeze a clump in your hand
Air: you need oxygen for aerobic decomposition, you can have anaerobic but it’s not desirable in generic composting. Since things tend to settle over time, this means turning with some regularity. You can also use a variety of different augers or compost turners to just quickly get some air in without literally turning over the whole pile.
Bonuses: You can add coffee grounds for a quick nitrogen boost (Starbucks is pretty good at giving these away). You can look into adding lactic acid bacteria to promote the right bacteria decomposers, this is getting into Korean natural farming, which can seem overwhelming, but making a LAB serum really isn’t too difficult or time consuming.
None of this needs to be perfect. What you have going on will turn in to useable compost in time. But the more you have these factors in the optimal range, the quicker you’ll get useable compost. Find your balance, some people put a lot of labor and effort in to get useable compost in weeks or a few months while others are content to let it just sit for years with little no to labor input and eventually collect something.
Last note: you have to stop adding to it eventually. Most composters have 2 or 3 compost piles, so that they can start a new pile and stop adding to an old one to let things decompose. My guess is you’ve got plenty of useable stuff in there but it’s mixed with a lot of newer waste that’s barely decomposed yet. Something to sift to about 1/4″ is also common compost equipment, the finer stuff is generally much more composted and useable, the thicker stuff goes back in the pile.
shred or break things up to smaller pieces…that’ll help…it’s also dry so more greens or as folks like to recommend here…pee on it.
Water and flip
Add water and keep turning it, it will break down. If you don’t touch it it will eventually break down but it will take years.
Maybe you can use a drill auger to break things apart
Turn the pile every few wweks.
Wow, you live near me! I’d recognize a toppers pizza box anywhere 🙂 get those free stix! We prefer jets lately though. Do you use the city compost dirt? Just curious if you’re happy with it if you do.
A bit dry and chop that box. Then give it some water and nice stir.
More greens, more mass, more heat
Too dry. Gotta get some agua in that pile homes. Turning it after a good drench or a few good pisses will get her crackilacking. Looks like you have plenty of browns, so some water/urine should kick it off. Also crush the eggshells, they break down faster and spread calcium farther that way. Shredding the cardboard also helps but not entirely necessary as the detritivores will use its structure to navigate the depths/shallows of the pile.
Seems dry. For stuff to rot down into becoming dirt, it needs to have moisture. Give ‘er a spritz every now and then.
You can use a hose and water, but really, pee is best.