Thanks for this feedback ! I just ordered one of those two options on Amazon and thanks, Paul, for your endorsement on that.
It's our responsibility to steward and preserve our lands and I’m glad I live in a town where many residents understand the common sense importance of - and are dedicated to - composting. Since I believe composting is a very interesting and worthwhile topic, I’ll add more context and share my composting story - for what it’s worth, and for those who give a heap - read on! Composting food waste just has seemed like normal practice to me since childhood when I remember the huge composting piles that my Nonni kept at their small family farm in Pleasant Valley Methuen. But, it does require effort to set up properly and maintain a composting system, and it’s unfortunate when people who have the option, choose not to make the effort. But when you are a tenant and not a landowner, you might not be permitted to have a compost pile. That was the case for me for several years before moving to Lincoln in 1991. But, soon after I moved here, I discovered the Down to Earth Organic farm run by Keith Shields on the Umbrello parcel that is now home to Hannan Healthy Foods Farm. I was one of many volunteers at that farm and we used a large three bin system with pallets. That really works best when you have a very large amount of composting material and people who are willing to turn it. I am not able or willing to do that and as I am still a tenant, I opt for much smaller set ups. I had a really cool heavy duty, octagonal metal thing about 3 feet high that I used for a composter, but I left at a previous residence. That was very effective and I’ve lamented not still having that. But, I can’t put in fencing or anything like that and it has to be portable. Happy composting ! Ciao! Jai On Mon, Aug 12, 2024 at 9:16 AM Paul Shorb <paul.sh...@gmail.com> wrote: > Jai - > Those Amazon items probably would work. My guess is that a bear wouldn't > bother them if you put only vegetable matter in. > > What you choose and how you use it depends on what your goals are. > One good reason to compost your kitchen scraps is to avoid adding them to > the trash stream at our Transfer Station, which then gets incinerated. (The > less stuff we burn, the better for the climate.) For that purpose, Sara M's > method is fine. If one of your goals is to make compost for gardening, > those Amazon items with a door at the bottom make it somewhat easier to get > the older, readier stuff out from the bottom. > > Whether you want usable compost or just want to warm the planet a little > less, my impression is that you should (A) add enough "brown" (e.g., dry > leaves) to mix with the "green" (e.g., just about all your kitchen scraps) > and (B) allow enough aeration that it doesn't get stinky and start > generating methane gas. Those Amazon items have vents that are intended to > let some air in - but it helps to also stir the stuff up with a pitchfork > or whatever now and then. An open bin made of chicken wire or whatever has > more room to add brown leaves and is easier to stir than those > Amazon items. > > How big you need your compost bin is affected by (A) how quickly you > generate kitchen scraps, (B) whether you plan to add brown leaves, and (C) > how often you are willing to have to empty it. > > My problem for a while was not adding enough "brown" to my black plastic > tumbling compost bin (it spun on an axle, to facilitate mixing and > aeration). So I replaced that system with the following, which I have found > to be easy to use and to make great compost for gardening. I set up a > large chicken-wire enclosure near my composting bin, to store leaves raked > up in the fall. That way, it's easy enough every now and then to > pitchfork some more brown leaves onto the kitchen scraps in the > adjacent composting bin. The composting bin is a 4-foot cube made of > 2-by-4s and hardware cloth (my original version, built like Sara's, turned > out to be insufficient to keep our highly food-motivated dog). But one of > those Amazon items could also work, if they are big enough for your output > rate. > > Photos available on request! > > - Paul Shorb > > On Mon, Aug 12, 2024 at 12:07 AM Sara Mattes <samat...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> We have been composting for 40 years, in the same spot. >> Metal fence posts in the ground, wrapped in heavy chicken wire >> As it gets high, we dig a deep hole and throw kitchen scraps/ compost in >> there. >> We have never turned, or rotated, just let things take their course. >> No animal / dairy products ever. >> No problem with anything being dismantled. >> Compost abounds. >> Good luck! >> Sent from my iPad >> >> On Aug 11, 2024, at 7:59 PM, Jai Kaur <victorygoddess...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >> >> There has not been any news lately about Lincoln bear sightings. >> Does anyone know if it is still around ? >> >> I wonder because some animal completely dismantled my composter. It is >> one of the composters sold by DPW so obviously, not the highest end. But, >> it has been secure for 3 years. >> >> So, now I am seeking recommendations for a new, >> sturdier, composting system. >> >> Here are a couple links to ones on Amazon that I like and I'd love to >> hear from anyone who has recommendations on this type of composter. >> Otherwise, I would very much appreciate hearing other opinions / >> suggestions. >> >> I would also very much like to know if anyone has a composter they are >> not using and would like to unload, or sell. >> >> Garden Compost Bin >> >> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BWH7Z9HF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3LRDQCJ73A2H4&psc=1 >> >> >> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B092DN9WD6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A1DWKI6UPOP9K9&th=1 >> >> Thanks heaps ! >> ~Jai 781-738-1920 >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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