"Drew" wrote in message
oups.com...
I just got a tool like then one in your post. My composter does have
thin slits in the sides down near the bottom.
How do you know which 1/4 to remove ? Can you take it off the bottom ??

Drew


Assuming there IS compost ready, it'll be at the bottom. A tiny bit of
finished compost will stick to the tool as you pull it upward, but that's
OK. That helps distribute beneficial bugs & bacteria upward to where the
fresh stuff is. The finished stuff will be nice & brown, and if it's really
done right, you won't see any recognizable plant parts. This doesn't
necessary matter that much, unless you're tossing weeds into the bins. In
that case, you really need to make an effort to make the process work
perfectly, helping the compost reach the right temperature to kill weed
seeds (and roots). Most of the time, you're better off not putting weeds in,
though.

In addition to the instructions that came with the boxes, search for a few
web sites and sort of average all the advice.

Pay special attention to moisture. You may tend to forget about the compost
bins and let them get dry. Figure out a way to check them a couple of times
a week. I can't really explain how moist it should be. I try and make it
similar to the environment in the box where I keep fishing worms in the
refrigerator. Not soggy, not dry. Gotta keep the worms happy in the compost
pile, too.

Other tips:

Everything composts faster if it's chopped up, since there's more surface
area exposed. This is especially true of tough vegetable scraps, like kale,
collard & broccoli stems, or chunks of the giant zucchini from your neighbor
who lets them get as big as baseball bats so they're useless as food. As
you're preparing some foods, put the stems in a pile, and before you toss
the cutting board in the sink, chop all the tough stuff into smaller pieces.

If you need to keep the scraps in the house until you collect enough to take
outside, do NOT put them in a sealed container. This invites anaerobic
bacteria and the stuff will really stink when you open the container. Pick
up a small live bait bucket with perforated lid at a tackle shop.

Do not compost anything that's been in contact with dairy products, grease,
or meats & fish. That smells great to raccoons, flies and other visitors. If
the after dinner plates are a mix of gravy, meat scraps and some vegetables,
don't bother trying to compost the vegetables. Not worth the trouble.

You can still put scraps into the bins in the winter. Nothing will happen to
them when it's really cold, but the process will catch up quickly in the
spring.

Finally, dried leaves are a great addition to the pile, in alternating
layers with green stuff like grass clippings and plants you pull out of the
garden. If you've got a bagging attachment for your mower, run over small
piles of leaves to turn them into flakes. And, if you intend to use the
compost on food plants, do NOT add grass clippings from lawns that have been
treated with chemicals. Some ******'s gonna come along here and say it's
safe, but he's wrong.