Does anyone use a compost bin in their house?

[melnjones]

I'm looking to start one, but all the internet info I find about indoor compost bins still includes holes in the bottom of the bin for drainage. How necessary is that? I can't imagine putting that much water in it, and I'll use plenty of ventilation holes, so if the drainage holes are avoidable, I'd rather avoid them.

If you don't compost but would like to do so indoors, visit this link:
http://www.chicagorecycling.org/wormcomposting.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. you may want to post this in Gardening too

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=246

[wildeyed]

2. I have been vermicomposting off and on for years.

I had to stop while I was pregnant, the bin made me puke, but other than that it has been a positive experience. The only problems I have had are when I over load it with too much food. The worms can't eat it fast enough, the compost goes anaerobic and gets stinky.

I am not an expert, but I think the drainage holes are a good idea. If it gets too wet in the bin, the wormys will drown.

I have this bin.



http://www.happydranch.com/46.html

This book is helpful and can answer most of your questions about vermicomposting and has several plans for simple homemade worm bins just in case you don't want to splash out $100 on a manufactured one.



http://www.happydranch.com/14.html

Plants LOVE the vermicompost and the worm water that drains out, plus it is better for the environment, not throwing all that good food scrap in the landfills.

[CitySky]

7. dumb worm question

hope i can trust my fellow DUer with a question like this:

don't the worms reproduce? i mean, that's their lifetime job description, right? "Eat, Poop, Reproduce." Can you end up with too many worms? Can you just release them into the tomato beds?

i have a very neglected backyard compost pile (as in, it hasn't been added to or turned since perhaps November, and there is clover growing all over it right now) and have considered worm composting instead, but never found an answer to the burning reproduction question...

[cally]

8. A combination post..I hope someone who gets it

posts but I'll tell you what I did. I had a neglected compost pile. I had the best of intentions but never turned it. I ended up clearing it out into the garden and tossing it around. A few months later I planted. A month later I put down weed cloth. Worked great...sortof. We had more weeds than usual.

The worms are not the problem. There are different types of compost piles. If it's a worm one, then you want the worms. Just turn them into the garden. It helps.

[CitySky]

9. turn them loose?

i was referring to the in-home type worm composters. they come with worms already, in a container from whence they cannot escape (or else I'll lose my wonderful roommates!) so i guess folks just turn some of the worms loose with the compost as they're using it?

(my plan for my neglected 2004 compost is to use it as a base layer for a "lasagna" style raised bed, which i'll be building pretty soon...)

[cally]

10. Sorry, I assume you live in a condo or apartment

My mistake. My turn them loose comment was meant for a yard. Your roommates would come get me if you let them loose. Sorry.

This is on edit: I once tried composting in college. Yeah, I let them go. Who knows what happened. I moved.

[wildeyed]

11. Yes the worms reproduce.

But it is not a problem. They reach a balance based on the amount of food and, I guess, the amount of space available. You have to worry more about losing too many when you dig out the finished compost. There are ways to get around that, though.

Try the worm book I mentioned in an earlier post. It answers most questions. Many libraries have it or other books on composting.

[LWolf]

3. I've done all kinds of composting over the years.

vermicomposting, hot piles, cold piles, sheet composting, etc.

These days, with only myself to clean up after, I take the lazy way out.

I toss coffee grounds and tea leaves under the bushes.

I feed veggie scraps to my 2 ancient hens.

Those that they won't eat, and other compostables, go in a 1 lb coffee can. When the can is full, I walk out to the garden, dig a hole, dump it in, cover the hole, and rinse the can out. I do this on the paths, not in the beds currently growing. The following year, I grow on what was the path, and the old bed becomes the new path, available for more compost.

I do the same thing in permanent beds, making sure that I don't dig my holes too close to the base of the plant.

I'm a really lazy composter. ;-)

[NMDemDist2]

4. lol wolfie, you're my kind of composter

how are the horses doing? It's been so wet and miserable this winter hasn't it?

[LWolf]

5. The horses are fine.

And thanks for asking!

We've had such an extended drought that we really needed all this rain; we've had more rain so far this winter than in the last 5 winters put together, and we're not done yet.

The horses are dealing just fine. The only issue is when it chooses to rain on my days off. :grr:

During the winter, I work such long hours that I can't do anything with them after work; it's already dark. So my days off are reserved for my horses. When it rains on my day off, we can't do anything. So they are somewhat neglected. On the brighter side, I'm moving forward with plans to move this summer, and when I move, I'm going to have them back home with me. Then even if we can't "work," I still get to see them and give them some attention each day.

My filly is coming along so well, by this summer I'll retire her mom and let her take the head trailhorse job in the family!

[NMDemDist2]

6. good! i miss having horses

someday as DH and I manifest our new life there is a pasture in my future :)