[angel1237b]

i have a compost bin in my yard that i have been adding scrap food to all summer..some grass clippings and seaweed..mostly food scraps...i didn't mix it...being that it is fall now should i mix it into my garden or leave it in the bin for the winter...thanks fellow gardeners.

 

[stephanie]

I would mix it into the garden and allow the worms and such to gravitate to the compost in the garden.

 

[Errol]

Angel, Stephaine is right on!! I don't use compost bins. Since all my beds are of the lasagna style, I just spread the contents on the beds, but I do cover this with about inch or 2 of soil, straw, or mulched leaves. this will help it to compost faster and keep from looking unslightly. In another month will be fall leaf collecting time. I always keep a big pile of leaves all year long to add to my beds. Actually lasagna garden beds is what some gardeners used to call "sheet composting"! don't forget to add a little lime to your compost
good gardening

 

[roni]

what does lime do to the compost?

 

[Errol]

if you have a compost bin, adding a handful of lime will keep the critters away and it also helps with speeding up composting. Plus you will need to add a little lime to any compost or lasagna bed since so much is brown material
good luck gardening

 

[Tammy]

I didn't know that about adding lime to compost. I will do that. I have some new compost going in my compost tumbler but I also emptied out a large batch this past wknd. It wasn't all broken down but I just mixed it in with the garden soil, watered it and am letting it decompose some more that way. I have a large bucket of lime out in my garden though that I always have on hand, so will add some of that to the mix.

 

[Errol]

Tammy, a few years back I learned from experience. I thought that having good compost was enough to grow just about anything. I planted my tomatoes and yellow summer squash. I had more BER, and almost lost my whole crop. And all because I did not add a little lime! Lime and epson salt adds calcium to your planting medium which without calcium is the biggest cause of BER (bottom end rot). made a believer out of me!
enjoy fall gardening

 

[Tammy]

yeah, I've experienced BER also and learned off adding lime. So whenever I plant tomatos or squash I amend that area with Lime and then add it periodically throughout the growing season. But I hadn't heard of adding it to compost to help speed up the composting process, so that was good to know.

 

[veggiewhisperer]

Hmm...I am just lurking here. Of all the times I have composted my own materials, I have always waited for the finished product. I am learning something here.

 

[stephanie]

I never wait for the compost to finish rotting, I just cover it up with news paper and dirt in the garden and let it do it's thing and so far that thing has turned out great results with minimal effort. need to order some wood chips before the snow fly's and cover every place there is exposed dirt and compost/manure so it can decompose during the winter months for spring planting.

 

[angel1237b]

i have 2 huge piles of maple tree leaves i just raked up...do i just spread them over my garden and let them compost through the winter...also can i over do it with leaves...my garden is 600 sq feet.

 

[stephanie]

spread them and let them compost over winter. I wish I had the leaves.