Jai - Those Amazon items probably would work. My guess is that a bear wouldn't bother them if you put only vegetable matter in.
What you choose and how you use it depends on what your goals are. One good reason to compost your kitchen scraps is to avoid adding them to the trash stream at our Transfer Station, which then gets incinerated. (The less stuff we burn, the better for the climate.) For that purpose, Sara M's method is fine. If one of your goals is to make compost for gardening, those Amazon items with a door at the bottom make it somewhat easier to get the older, readier stuff out from the bottom. Whether you want usable compost or just want to warm the planet a little less, my impression is that you should (A) add enough "brown" (e.g., dry leaves) to mix with the "green" (e.g., just about all your kitchen scraps) and (B) allow enough aeration that it doesn't get stinky and start generating methane gas. Those Amazon items have vents that are intended to let some air in - but it helps to also stir the stuff up with a pitchfork or whatever now and then. An open bin made of chicken wire or whatever has more room to add brown leaves and is easier to stir than those Amazon items. How big you need your compost bin is affected by (A) how quickly you generate kitchen scraps, (B) whether you plan to add brown leaves, and (C) how often you are willing to have to empty it. My problem for a while was not adding enough "brown" to my black plastic tumbling compost bin (it spun on an axle, to facilitate mixing and aeration). So I replaced that system with the following, which I have found to be easy to use and to make great compost for gardening. I set up a large chicken-wire enclosure near my composting bin, to store leaves raked up in the fall. That way, it's easy enough every now and then to pitchfork some more brown leaves onto the kitchen scraps in the adjacent composting bin. The composting bin is a 4-foot cube made of 2-by-4s and hardware cloth (my original version, built like Sara's, turned out to be insufficient to keep our highly food-motivated dog). But one of those Amazon items could also work, if they are big enough for your output rate. Photos available on request! - Paul Shorb On Mon, Aug 12, 2024 at 12:07 AM Sara Mattes <[email protected]> wrote: > We have been composting for 40 years, in the same spot. > Metal fence posts in the ground, wrapped in heavy chicken wire > As it gets high, we dig a deep hole and throw kitchen scraps/ compost in > there. > We have never turned, or rotated, just let things take their course. > No animal / dairy products ever. > No problem with anything being dismantled. > Compost abounds. > Good luck! > Sent from my iPad > > On Aug 11, 2024, at 7:59 PM, Jai Kaur <[email protected]> wrote: > > > There has not been any news lately about Lincoln bear sightings. > Does anyone know if it is still around ? > > I wonder because some animal completely dismantled my composter. It is > one of the composters sold by DPW so obviously, not the highest end. But, > it has been secure for 3 years. > > So, now I am seeking recommendations for a new, > sturdier, composting system. > > Here are a couple links to ones on Amazon that I like and I'd love to > hear from anyone who has recommendations on this type of composter. > Otherwise, I would very much appreciate hearing other opinions / > suggestions. > > I would also very much like to know if anyone has a composter they are not > using and would like to unload, or sell. > > Garden Compost Bin > > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BWH7Z9HF/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3LRDQCJ73A2H4&psc=1 > > > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B092DN9WD6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A1DWKI6UPOP9K9&th=1 > > Thanks heaps ! > ~Jai 781-738-1920 > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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