Use a 1/2-inch drill bit and space them about 2-4 inches apart over the sides and bottom. Leave the lid hole-free if you live in an area that gets a decent amount of rainfall.
You can add in some septic tank treatment (bacteria only, not the root burner stuff) to hasten things along. It's still organic compost as long as you're only using bacteria and not chemicals. You can get that at a hardware store and I think most grocery stores carry it in rural areas.
hey, i moved to green bay a year ago... we're just about to close on our first house. so we're stoked to give composting a try finally. i work at a resturaunt as the soup cook so i have tons of access to good clean veggie waste. but i was wondering..... what happens in the winter when everything freezes? you can't compost in the winter can you?
i remember reading that urine is good compost accelerator to get your materials start decomposing quicker and more efficiently, and attract beneficial organisms, and eventually probably attract worms depending on the size of your pile.....
Just keep adding to your bin. Depending on where you live, your compost will continue to decompose. In Southwestern Pennsylvania, mine would steam, it was a trip. If it completely freezes, it doesn't matter, cuz in the Spring, it will start decomposing. Yes, urine is an excellent compost accelerator. In fact, don't buy it from a store, because all it is is urine and you can get that for free!
I'm just happy to become aware that there are so many other "composters" out there.Composting has fascinated me for along time......haha...it still does. everyone near me thinks that I have a green thumb , secret is simple......everything is grown in compost. cactus , tomatoes , redwood trees .......everything likes compost. my plan is easy , simplistic and very effective. get a HUGE pile going , turn it 5 or 6 times a year, sit back and don't worry about it. it takes a year to get this going , but make it a perpetual change. and for weeds............they go in the centre at a turning.......my highest temp at centre was about 154 for 3 days.........you can bake millions of weed seeds like tiny taters.timing
Good advice. If weeds start to grow in your composter its best to kill them. They suck up nutrients etc.
The purpose of turning is to allow air to get into it. Oxygen is needed for the bacteria that make composting happen happen. Some can get in on its own, but if you do not turn it, anaorobic (non oxygen-using) bacteria will form. These make a lot of waste gasses that both off-gas your nutrients instead of putting them back into the soil and stink a whole lot. You have to either suck it up and turn the compost pile, which isn't really that hard, or design one that aerates itself. I could imagine, although I've never seen, a compost pile built on top of pipes that run air into the center of it. Or there is the classic rollable compost container, that you turn by litteraly turning. But I recomend that you start simple and just turn a pile of rotting plant matter. How have you been turning your compost? you may be using a dificult method. Do you have a turning fork? The tool looks like a small pitch fork with thicker teeth. Very usefull for turning compost piles.
