"dkhedmo" wrote in message
hlink.net...

With winter fast approaching, should I bother to start now, or wait until
spring?

I add to a pile all winter long and start a new pile every year.

I'm thinking of composting household food scraps in the
bin (the Smith and Hawken stacking thing wiht the bi-fold lid) and doing
leaves and grass in a pile. Once I do get up and running, do I continue
adding through the winter, or take a hiatus?

see above


Location - what do I need to consider? Sun? Lots of tall trees. Drainage?
There are some swampy bits here and there. (Questions about drainage and
how to fix that will be a whole 'nother post sometime.) I was thinking of
doing the grass and leaves pile in the woods, just outside of our fence.
Would I need to clear the ground of brush and vegetation, or just dump
stuff on top and go from there? If I were to do the pile in the yard,
would I clear any grass or weeds first?

I no longer start piles near trees cause I've had piles ruined by spider
roots growing up in them from tree roots below.
I don't do much clearing just start making a pile. The pile we started a
few weeks ago is in a rocky spot. First week was just a pail of kitchen
scraps and a bag of mulched leaves / grass. Since then more of the same
plus a neighbor who does lawn care dumped a pickup load of his clippings on
it that were mostly grass with some leaves.


We have lots of squirrels, rabbits, mice, various northeast woodland
creatures in the vicinity. How do I arrange things so as to *not* set up a
cafeteria, or a nice cozy nest?

We haven't had much trouble like that but one year we did find some snake
eggs in one pile and occassionally the deer or somebody helps themselves
when we throw garden produce like half rotten pumpkins on it.

I'm hoping to go way back in the yard, but what is the closest one might
put a compost area to the house?

I grew up in the northeast, but the little I know about gardening,
composting, etc is all west coast based, as I lived out there in my mid
20's to 30's - almost year-round growing seasons, different plant
selection, etc.

Any advice to get me started is greatly appreciated. Websites, book
recommendations, etc.

Thanks,
Karen