- Aug 10, 2002
- 5,847
- 154
- 106
I compost all my kitchen waste/scraps, old food etc... instead of throwing into the trash. I have a big pile in a corner of my property that i use a shovel to open up a hole and every week or so, I empty the organic scraps into it.
This system has been going well and it results in me creating a good amount of dark soil. The food decomposes in the pile and turns into fertilizer that I use in my garden. I like the idea of being able to recycle yard scraps and kitchen waste into something that I would have to otherwise pay for.
The problem is the fresh kitchen scraps. Even if I bury them 1-2 feet down in the pile, I feel that animals can still get to them. My friend has a Treeing Walker Coonhound and like any hound, he has a good nose. Every time the dog comes over to visit, he makes a dash for the compost pile. Even if I bury something deeply, the dog digs in the pile and tries to excavate something to eat. If a dog can smell the food, so can racoons, skunks, bears etc...
Therefore my plan is to get a compost tumbler. I would still use the pile system for normal yard waste like leaves etc... However, the tumbler would receive any fresh food waste. I think the tumbler should be able to compost the contents into soil quicker than a pile. Since the tumbler can be closed up, I'm not worried about animals digging and eating the food even if they can still smell it. Anybody using one of these?
This system has been going well and it results in me creating a good amount of dark soil. The food decomposes in the pile and turns into fertilizer that I use in my garden. I like the idea of being able to recycle yard scraps and kitchen waste into something that I would have to otherwise pay for.
The problem is the fresh kitchen scraps. Even if I bury them 1-2 feet down in the pile, I feel that animals can still get to them. My friend has a Treeing Walker Coonhound and like any hound, he has a good nose. Every time the dog comes over to visit, he makes a dash for the compost pile. Even if I bury something deeply, the dog digs in the pile and tries to excavate something to eat. If a dog can smell the food, so can racoons, skunks, bears etc...
Therefore my plan is to get a compost tumbler. I would still use the pile system for normal yard waste like leaves etc... However, the tumbler would receive any fresh food waste. I think the tumbler should be able to compost the contents into soil quicker than a pile. Since the tumbler can be closed up, I'm not worried about animals digging and eating the food even if they can still smell it. Anybody using one of these?