Help: Compost Demonstration Site
 

My name is David, I'm working with Durham's Dept of Solid Waste for the
summer. In a nutshell what I'm doing is helping with the creation of a
compost demonstration site at the Solid Waste Center in Durham. Part of
my job is designing informative signs to educate people who visit the
site about composting. I'm wondering what types of things I should be
putting on the signs.

What I have for signs now:
*What compost is
*What to use compost for
*Common myths (if you think of any, please pass them on)
*Common problems and solutions (again, please pass along any problems
you've had and how you solved them)
*Descriptions of various bins (including pros and cons of each)

When finished, the layout of the site will include the following:
*A plastic bin
*A tumbler
*A concrete block 3-compartment bin
*A chicken wire pile
*A pallet bin
*A worm bin

Also on the site will be an outdoor "classroom" setup. Creating lesson
plans based on age and level of experience. Eventually we hope to be
able to accomodate everyone from children to folks who are curious
about starting their first pile to master gardeners. Any ideas for
things to include in these lesson plans would be great.

I myself am fairly new to composting, but I'm quite enthusiastic about
learning more. Thanks in advanced for anything you contribute to making
this project happen.

-Dave

I would suggest 2 things - which basically deal with how little time most
people have.

1 - Show how easy it is to go from kitchen to compost pile - We use a paper
bag like shool lunch bags to put our scraps in and then toss the whole thing
into the compost pile

2 - the lazy composter - make a composter that all you do is toss the stuff
in and close the lid again. That is what I have. It does take a lot longer
to compost but it is not like I have to compost hundreds of pounds a day.

tomatolord...



"RiversideGraduateDp" wrote in message
oups.com...
My name is David, I'm working with Durham's Dept of Solid Waste for the
summer. In a nutshell what I'm doing is helping with the creation of a
compost demonstration site at the Solid Waste Center in Durham. Part of
my job is designing informative signs to educate people who visit the
site about composting. I'm wondering what types of things I should be
putting on the signs.

What I have for signs now:
*What compost is
*What to use compost for
*Common myths (if you think of any, please pass them on)
*Common problems and solutions (again, please pass along any problems
you've had and how you solved them)
*Descriptions of various bins (including pros and cons of each)

When finished, the layout of the site will include the following:
*A plastic bin
*A tumbler
*A concrete block 3-compartment bin
*A chicken wire pile
*A pallet bin
*A worm bin

Also on the site will be an outdoor "classroom" setup. Creating lesson
plans based on age and level of experience. Eventually we hope to be
able to accomodate everyone from children to folks who are curious
about starting their first pile to master gardeners. Any ideas for
things to include in these lesson plans would be great.

I myself am fairly new to composting, but I'm quite enthusiastic about
learning more. Thanks in advanced for anything you contribute to making
this project happen.

-Dave

"tomatolord" wrote in message
...
I would suggest 2 things - which basically deal with how little time
most people have.

1 - Show how easy it is to go from kitchen to compost pile - We use
a paper bag like shool lunch bags to put our scraps in and then toss
the whole thing into the compost pile

2 - the lazy composter - make a composter that all you do is toss
the stuff in and close the lid again. That is what I have. It does
take a lot longer to compost but it is not like I have to compost
hundreds of pounds a day.

tomatolord...



"RiversideGraduateDp" wrote in message
oups.com...
My name is David, I'm working with Durham's Dept of Solid Waste for
the
summer. In a nutshell what I'm doing is helping with the creation
of a
compost demonstration site at the Solid Waste Center in Durham.
Part of
my job is designing informative signs to educate people who visit
the
site about composting. I'm wondering what types of things I should
be
putting on the signs.

What I have for signs now:
*What compost is
*What to use compost for
*Common myths (if you think of any, please pass them on)
*Common problems and solutions (again, please pass along any
problems
you've had and how you solved them)
*Descriptions of various bins (including pros and cons of each)

When finished, the layout of the site will include the following:
*A plastic bin
*A tumbler
*A concrete block 3-compartment bin
*A chicken wire pile
*A pallet bin
*A worm bin

Also on the site will be an outdoor "classroom" setup. Creating
lesson
plans based on age and level of experience. Eventually we hope to
be
able to accomodate everyone from children to folks who are curious
about starting their first pile to master gardeners. Any ideas for
things to include in these lesson plans would be great.

I myself am fairly new to composting, but I'm quite enthusiastic
about
learning more. Thanks in advanced for anything you contribute to
making
this project happen.

-Dave


I agree. Showing composting as the "path of least resistance" is a
good idea.

On 2005-07-19, tomatolord wrote:
I would suggest 2 things - which basically deal with how little time most
people have.

1 - Show how easy it is to go from kitchen to compost pile - We use a paper
bag like shool lunch bags to put our scraps in and then toss the whole thing
into the compost pile


We keep a half gallon plastic container with a lid on the kitchen
counter. It lasts most of the week before we empty it. On the weekends
we cook more and we have to empty it several times. I started with Food
Lion frozen yogurt containers, but am using a lard container now since
I buy it to make suet.

Newspapers to collect scraps works too.

2 - the lazy composter - make a composter that all you do is toss the stuff
in and close the lid again. That is what I have. It does take a lot longer
to compost but it is not like I have to compost hundreds of pounds a day.


I have the luxury of a larger yard and I have two of the black
composting bins that Wake County sells as well as a leaf bin where I
store leaves for mulching in the summer. Every week or two I put a
layer of leaves over the scraps. It takes a year or so to fill one. I
have been putting a final layer of grass clippings on a full bin and
watering it down well. I then start on the second bin and leave the
first alone for at least another 6 months. Sometimes I leave it until
the second is finshed. Both have bricks for a floor. The bins have a
door at the bottom where you could speed up the composting by shoveling
the bottom stuff to the top. My two bin method eliminates that need.
tomatolord...



"RiversideGraduateDp" wrote in message
oups.com...
My name is David, I'm working with Durham's Dept of Solid Waste for the
summer. In a nutshell what I'm doing is helping with the creation of a
compost demonstration site at the Solid Waste Center in Durham. Part of
my job is designing informative signs to educate people who visit the
site about composting. I'm wondering what types of things I should be
putting on the signs.

What I have for signs now:
*What compost is
*What to use compost for
*Common myths (if you think of any, please pass them on)
*Common problems and solutions (again, please pass along any problems
you've had and how you solved them)
*Descriptions of various bins (including pros and cons of each)

When finished, the layout of the site will include the following:
*A plastic bin
*A tumbler
*A concrete block 3-compartment bin
*A chicken wire pile
*A pallet bin
*A worm bin

Also on the site will be an outdoor "classroom" setup. Creating lesson
plans based on age and level of experience. Eventually we hope to be
able to accomodate everyone from children to folks who are curious
about starting their first pile to master gardeners. Any ideas for
things to include in these lesson plans would be great.

I myself am fairly new to composting, but I'm quite enthusiastic about
learning more. Thanks in advanced for anything you contribute to making
this project happen.

-Dave





--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

One other thing would be very helpful. I'm in the process of finding
vendors for the signposts. Thusfar I have found 2 vendors. City of
Durham policy requires that I find 3 vendors. I've been trying to find
a third vendor for roughly a week now. If anyone has any ideas about
other places to try, please pass them on.

Description/pictures of signposts (also refered to as Message Centers):
(Small)
http://www.theparkcatalog.com/items....r&Cc=SS-RP-S02
(Large) http://theparkcatalog.com/Customkiti...?kc=266%2D4033

The other vendor I found is Barco Products
(http://www.barcoproducts.com)

Thanks again
-Dave