"MajorOz" wrote

This site is an exception to the usual conviviality found on many
usenet sites. To earn your entry into the clique, you have to
initiate or agree with some long-winded political screed. If you ask
a question(s), you will be greeted with the hostility by this clique
-- but not by all herein -- as you have been. They assume many
things: e.g. that you didn't go to Google, that you didn't do any
other research. They are predisposed to question motives, not to
engage in friendly discussions of gardening.
There are some helpful and just plain nice folks here, but also a few
self-appointed neighborhood bullies. Lurk and learn, but enter at
your peril.

cheers

oz

Your concise explanation is very helpful. But, I have been through it in
other newsgroups. I still disdain cliques as much as I did in my
adolescence, and find them to be made up of the same people, only older. By
now, I have pared some of the most obvious fools,argumentative types,
lawyers, trolls, snot nosed egotistical rude teens, and overmedicated people
with too much time on their hands and a keyboard.

I'll stick around and pop in and out when I have questions, and keep
refining my list. Thanks for the help.

Steve

"Sheldon" wrote in message
s.com...
On Nov 6, 8:22?am, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Gloria" wrote in message

. net...





Kids know how to learn....

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"Gloria" wrote in message
s.net...
The time that it has taken smartass to tell you all the
noninformative
stuff, he could have answered your questions ten times and if he
didn't
want to tell you if he composts and if it works for him and does he
wet
it, etc...he should have googled for something more interesting to do
with his time.

If teachers spoon fed your kids or grandkids instead of teaching them
how
to learn, you'd be bitching about it. Why make exceptions for adults?

Kids know how to learn....they ask questions

My teachers wouldn't answer questions whose answers were in the chapter I
was asked to read the night before. Some said "That was in last night's
reading," while others asked questions which made us think harder. Spoon
feeding people is like giving them a fish. Teaching them to do research
is
like teaching them to fish

And biting on a troll's hook makes one a fish. The OP is very
obviously a troll... he didn't actually ask any questions that have
answers.



And another overly educated old fart makes the file.

"Pennyaline" wrote

Because of issues with rancidity and possible/probable contact with
substances that don't break down cleanly into sweet compost, it's best to
leave cooked foods out. The problem of animal visitation really hadn't
occurred to me, as they will raid any garbage pile if they're hungry
enough.

We have critters where we live. We have squirrels, birds, chipmunks, and
even have coyotes come in our yards. We live on the edge of thousands and
thousands of acres of wild land. I have seen my neighbor's watermelon patch
raided several times. My dogs will even sneak over to the pile if I'm not
watching them. Depending on your situation, visitation by critters may or
may not be any big deal. They don't bother me, as I figure there will be
enough left to rot. They probably come and eat the fresher scraps anyway.

SteveB wrote:
"MajorOz" wrote

This site is an exception to the usual conviviality found on many
usenet sites. To earn your entry into the clique, you have to
initiate or agree with some long-winded political screed. If you ask
a question(s), you will be greeted with the hostility by this clique
-- but not by all herein -- as you have been. They assume many
things: e.g. that you didn't go to Google, that you didn't do any
other research. They are predisposed to question motives, not to
engage in friendly discussions of gardening.
There are some helpful and just plain nice folks here, but also a few
self-appointed neighborhood bullies. Lurk and learn, but enter at
your peril.

cheers

oz

Your concise explanation is very helpful. But, I have been through it in
other newsgroups. I still disdain cliques as much as I did in my
adolescence, and find them to be made up of the same people, only older. By
now, I have pared some of the most obvious fools,argumentative types,
lawyers, trolls, snot nosed egotistical rude teens, and overmedicated people
with too much time on their hands and a keyboard.

You filtered yourself?!

I'll stick around and pop in and out when I have questions, and keep
refining my list. Thanks for the help.

Steve

Dioclese wrote:
Tried it in vain. Composting would be great here, if it were allowed to
work as advertised. Ants are the problem. Any kitchen leftovers with
vegetable or animal protein is promptly attacked and drug off. Includes
immediate burial stuff. The ants won't go away, tried Amdro etc. They keep
coming back like Michael Myers. No, not building/buying an elevated compost
bin.

YOU need to read up on composting. No animal proteins, no animal fats!
Compost piles are not garbage heaps, and vice versa.

patience is required, too

"SteveB" wrote in message
...
We recently moved out in the country. Nothing to do but we had to make a
compost pile. I admit, it's a handy place for garbage we would usually
put
in the can for a week. Yech!

Does it work?

Yes.

How much work is it?

As much as you want to put into it. I turn the pile every few weeks.

How often are you supposed to turn it?
Do you keep it wet?

Damp is better.

Do you get enough compost to justify the work?

I do. Try Googling "compost."





TIA

Steve

"SteveB" wrote in message
...

From here, about 22 miles. But, I googled composting, and got lots of
information. I don't always believe what I read in google, and one gets
hits that make you wonder how in the world you get there from a simple
keyword. I just wanted to know some real live opinions rather than
someone who has a website with Adsense ads all over it, or someone who
wrote a book and is profiting somehow.

Composting does work. We just pile everything in a semi-shady area and keep
it moist. Every so often the pile gets turned. When I looks "done" enough,
it's hauled in a garden cart to the flower beds or veggie garden. A new pile
is started every year with the leaves and dead garden plants from our
property.



Steve

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Pennyaline" wrote in message
SteveB wrote:

snip the shit for crying out loud

Has anyone gotten around to telling you not to use cooked or dressed food
scraps in your compost pile? Raw foods only, vegetable matter only, no
meat, no fats, no salad dressings, etc.

Why not? I've composted lots of things including lots of cooked food and
also a dead chook (chicken in US speak) and had no problems at all.
Someone I know swears that fat is a real worm attractant and that worms
writhe and gorge themselves on fat from a commercial frying machine.
Can't see it myself but he swears that it's true.

That kind of thing where I live would have the compost pile full of raccoons
and possums.

"Pennyaline" wrote in message
FarmI wrote:
"Pennyaline" wrote in message
SteveB wrote:

snip the shit for crying out loud

Has anyone gotten around to telling you not to use cooked or dressed
food scraps in your compost pile? Raw foods only, vegetable matter only,
no meat, no fats, no salad dressings, etc.

Why not? I've composted lots of things including lots of cooked food and
also a dead chook (chicken in US speak) and had no problems at all.
Someone I know swears that fat is a real worm attractant and that worms
writhe and gorge themselves on fat from a commercial frying machine.
Can't see it myself but he swears that it's true.

I have no doubt that worms writhe around in fats since they writhe around
in everything, but to my knowledge they do not consume it.

I wouldn't have thought they would either but the person I know who has told
me about the fat, swears that they do eat it and that they also multipy on
it. I still can't see it myself, but since I'm not prepared to put a huge
commercial fryer load of fat into my compost, I really don't have the
experience to dismiss it.

It
compromises the compost to add meat and fats, as these don't break down at
the same rate as vegetable matter and will spoil the end product in its
entirety. It also attracts competing insects which can crowd out a worm
colony and defeat the purpose of the whole thing.

I guess adding too much meat could do that but I know that having composted
a chook (chicken) certainly didn't spoil the final product. I didn't get
any untoward visitors either at that time. I now have had mice move into my
closed bins but I've decided that the mice are a good thing to have - they
seem to do a great job of turning stuff in my closed bins. In fact, I'm so
impressed with the mice activity that I do nothing to stop them.

"Manelli Family" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
"Pennyaline" wrote in message
SteveB wrote:

snip the shit for crying out loud

Has anyone gotten around to telling you not to use cooked or dressed
food scraps in your compost pile? Raw foods only, vegetable matter only,
no meat, no fats, no salad dressings, etc.

Why not? I've composted lots of things including lots of cooked food and
also a dead chook (chicken in US speak) and had no problems at all.
Someone I know swears that fat is a real worm attractant and that worms
writhe and gorge themselves on fat from a commercial frying machine.
Can't see it myself but he swears that it's true.

That kind of thing where I live would have the compost pile full of
raccoons and possums.

There are no Raccoons in my country and the possums in this country are
vegetarians. The only meat eaters locally are rats, mice, foxes and my
dogs. The latter 2 can't get into my bins, the rats prefer the chook pen
and I've decided that the mice are useful. I certainly wouldn't consider
mice to be useful if I read and believed the conventional information
written on compost, but I've watched what happens with the compost and
decided that the mice do very useful work for me. I now consider them
almost as useful as earthworms.

"Not@home" wrote in message
...

You filtered yourself?!

I see you've morphed again so that you can hang on my every word. Well,
I'll killfile you once MORE.

Steve

My point being is that doesn't matter. The ants get it either anyway. No,
I don't need to read up. Am familiar.

--
Dave
Profound is we're here due to a chance arrangement
of chemicals in the ocean billions of years ago.
More profound is we made it to the top of the food
chain per our reasoning abilities.
Most profound is the denial of why we may
be on the way out.
"Pennyaline" wrote in message
...
Dioclese wrote:
Tried it in vain. Composting would be great here, if it were allowed to
work as advertised. Ants are the problem. Any kitchen leftovers with
vegetable or animal protein is promptly attacked and drug off. Includes
immediate burial stuff. The ants won't go away, tried Amdro etc. They
keep coming back like Michael Myers. No, not building/buying an elevated
compost bin.

YOU need to read up on composting. No animal proteins, no animal fats!
Compost piles are not garbage heaps, and vice versa.

patience is required, too

"Pennyaline" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
"Pennyaline" wrote in message
...
SteveB wrote:

snip the shit for crying out loud

Has anyone gotten around to telling you not to use cooked or dressed
food scraps in your compost pile? Raw foods only, vegetable matter only,
no meat, no fats, no salad dressings, etc.

Why?

David

You can use cooked vegetable scraps, but stuff like butter, dressings &
meat
are more likely (compared to vegetables) to attract visitors you don't
want
around your garden. Manage the composter like a campground and you'll be
happy.

Because of issues with rancidity and possible/probable contact with
substances that don't break down cleanly into sweet compost, it's best
to leave cooked foods out.

This makes no sense to me at all. Cooked vegetables are no more health risk
than uncooked and will break down faster in the compost heap. I cannot see
any reason to not use it and so what if it has a dollop of salad dressing on
it. What is this concept of "break down cleanly into sweet compost"? It
sounds to me like this is just a squeemish reaction. A compost heap is a big
pile of stuff that is rancid, rotting, corrupted and not fit for human
consumption. We coopt a few zillion microorganisms to do our dirty work for
us. Why judge their working environment by whether you would like it.

As for meat, fat etc I can see that there could well be problems, especially
in suburban setting, with smell and scavengers. However if your situation is
such that these matters can be dealt with I see no reason why you cannot
compost such items. Hair, household dust (containing hair and skin) and
feathers are grist for the mill so why not a bit more protein from flesh. The
bacteria and fungi that do the work will consume the material. I would keep
to the idea of a balanced mix however, just as you wouldn't make a heap out of
50% chook manure you wouldn't go out and empty 5 gallons of cooking oil into
it either.

The problem of animal visitation really
hadn't occurred to me, as they will raid any garbage pile if they're
hungry enough.

As it happens I don't put fat and meat scraps in my heap (ia have an alternate
recycler for that). That doesn't stop the mice from living in my all vege
heap.

David

David Hare-Scott wrote:

This makes no sense to me at all. Cooked vegetables are no more health risk
than uncooked and will break down faster in the compost heap. I cannot see
any reason to not use it and so what if it has a dollop of salad dressing on
it. What is this concept of "break down cleanly into sweet compost"? It
sounds to me like this is just a squeemish reaction. A compost heap is a big
pile of stuff that is rancid, rotting, corrupted and not fit for human
consumption. We coopt a few zillion microorganisms to do our dirty work for
us. Why judge their working environment by whether you would like it.

You are the only one who said "health risk." I'm talking about fats
added to compost, and how fats don't break down as quickly as vegetable
matter and also go rancid. If you want to dump fats into your own
compost heap, go for it.

Perhaps you don't understand the concept of "sweet compost."



As for meat, fat etc I can see that there could well be problems, especially
in suburban setting, with smell and scavengers. However if your situation is
such that these matters can be dealt with I see no reason why you cannot
compost such items. Hair, household dust (containing hair and skin) and
feathers are grist for the mill so why not a bit more protein from flesh.

The keratin of hair, skin and feathers is not comparable to striated
muscle fiber.



The
bacteria and fungi that do the work will consume the material. I would keep
to the idea of a balanced mix however, just as you wouldn't make a heap out of
50% chook manure you wouldn't go out and empty 5 gallons of cooking oil into
it either.

The problem of animal visitation really
hadn't occurred to me, as they will raid any garbage pile if they're
hungry enough.

As it happens I don't put fat and meat scraps in my heap (ia have an alternate
recycler for that). That doesn't stop the mice from living in my all vege
heap.

Thus, as I stated and as you included in the quotation, animals will
raid any garbage pile if they are hungry enough.

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...

As for meat, fat etc I can see that there could well be problems,
especially
in suburban setting, with smell and scavengers. However if your situation
is
such that these matters can be dealt with I see no reason why you cannot
compost such items. Hair, household dust (containing hair and skin) and
feathers are grist for the mill so why not a bit more protein from flesh.
The
bacteria and fungi that do the work will consume the material. I would
keep
to the idea of a balanced mix however, just as you wouldn't make a heap
out of
50% chook manure you wouldn't go out and empty 5 gallons of cooking oil
into
it either.

The problem of animal visitation really
hadn't occurred to me, as they will raid any garbage pile if they're
hungry enough.

As it happens I don't put fat and meat scraps in my heap (ia have an
alternate
recycler for that). That doesn't stop the mice from living in my all vege
heap.

David

I know people who toss meat bones into the compost, including some pretty
big ones. They also put really fat vegetable stalks in there. The major
issue with those things would be that they're not going to decompose as fast
as ***SOME*** (disclaimer - I said ***SOME***) other material, like small
vegetable scraps. This means you have to sift or pick out the unfinished
stuff before using the compost. No thanks. This weekend, I'll be composting
stuff like broccoli stalks, 2" thick, and I'll use a meat cleaver to chop it
into smaller pieces. Otherwise (based on experience), those stalks will
still be there in May.