dkhedmo wrote:
We moved into our house a few weeks ago, and have quite a deep back
yard, backed by woods. We're sort of halfway between town and country;
it's an old tract neighborhood, but more on the rustic side than the
golf course lawn type of neighborhoods. I have done some marginally
successful bin composting in the past, in the yard of an apartment we
lived in on the west coast. We are now in the northeast, and now that
we have our own property, I want to get into composting more fully.

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

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?

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? 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
Hi Karen,

Depending on where you live in the NE [Maine or the southern tip of NJ],
I'd say start now. You are probably aware that no meat, fish, fats,
should go in the container.

Here in San Diego, I chose the sunniest spot. The sun really does a
great job of cooking things down in a hurry. I also poured a small
concrete slap upon which I placed the container. Last time, I had gopher
and rodents burrowing underneath to get at the compost. I opened the
lid one day and there he was, staring back at me :-) . My composter is
about 30' from the house, on a slight downward sloping hill, but the
composter is level. Remember to turn your compost every several days to
aerate it. It may be best [easier] if you bought two containers; just
transfer the contents from on to the other, but two are not necessary. I
really like the 55 gallon drum that rotates with the crank of a handle.
I understand they work very well.

I wouldn't worry about doing any brush removal unless it obscures the
rays of the sun. The sun is your friend.

For further info, I'd look in the phone book under "county agriculture
department". If you've got a college local to your area, I'm sure that
they will have an ag dept of some type. Actually, you may wish to
contact them first; here in San Diego, we have recycling seminars where
they give away free bins, as long as you take the 6 week class.