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thepsychedelic1

when has composting gone too far?

17 years ago

I began composting @ 6months ago and, like most who post here, became a composting junkie in no time flat. I am getting quite used to relatives/neighbors/friends referring to me as the "kooky organic gardening guy" but yesterday found myself having to explain to friends whose house we were at for a cookout, why I was smuggling all of the veggie scraps back to my house. My questions is simply "When does the madness end?"

Comments (25)

  • 17 years ago

    It doesn't, you may be in need of 30 days in treatment, but odds are you'll relapse any way.

  • 17 years ago

    "When does the madness end?"

    When everyone takes up composting!

    Lloyd

  • 17 years ago

    We have a "Green Bin" program in the Province and its paying dividends as far as what amounts of compostables go where they shouldn't--to the dump.
    I am seen regularly removing the biodegradable bags from curbside bins and my neighbor, who is a vegetable and fruit junkie, makes sure I know when his green bin has lots and I go get it for my 3 bins.

    I have no idea what other neighbors might think when they see me carting the bags down the street--but my next door neighbor I've got interested in making a compost bin--so I am keeping my sources quiet--let him steal his own is my motto.

  • 17 years ago

    What madness?

    The only thing you need is some carbon to go with the veggies you scored.

    tj

  • 17 years ago

    You mean you can take it to far. No way!
    I found a horse stable near me & they needed to get rid of about 60 yards of Horse Manure mixed with saw dust (saw dust from a local saw mill spruce & birch logs) last year.
    I hauled the first 20 yards, in a trailer. He had a dump truck & hauled the next 40 yards for me. Made 2 big piles. Used a least 20 yards for a new section of my yard mixed with grass seed. It was growing when winter got here. The rest is piled up to be used this year for soil boxes, mulching & my neighbor needs some. (probably 30 net yards by now)
    I'm looking forward to another 60 yards this year. Never have enough compost, I think. :)
    All that plus I have 2 , 5' X 5' X 5' bins with leaves, garden scrapes, grass clippings (& some fresh HM mixed in).
    The small bins froze solid this winter but I'm hoping the 2 big piles cooked through the winter.
    So if you're Madd, I'm ready to be committed.

  • 17 years ago

    My neighbors have witnessed me (in no particular order);
    1) Stand in my yard and sprinkle used coffee grounds from Starbucks for use as fertilizer (no chemicals here folks) and discuss the benefits of alfalfa pellets
    2) Refusing to treat a growing fire ant problem until I found the right organic treatment
    3) Raking and turning the compost pile at all hours of the day and night
    4) Transport pee from my young son's travel potty to throw in the compost pile
    5) Try to explain to their young sons why I am a vegetarian

    With all that being said, I guess what's a few veggie scraps among friends, eh?

  • 17 years ago

    When ur wife gets ofended you tell him his gone to far lol sorry.

  • 17 years ago

    The only "madness" is those who do not compost their waste. It is not those of us that do recycle, it is those that do not. Since recycling has been taught in our schools since the 1970's why are more people not doing that? Why did so many people not learn the lessons they were taught in school?

  • 17 years ago

    Correct, kimmsr. I wish I could recall whose comment, and where I read it, but to paraphrase (on the idea of throwing something away)....there is no "away" any more.

  • 17 years ago

    I was going to say the same thing. "I'm crazy? The question is, why aren't you doing it?"

    It can't go too far until there are no landfills left. Then we can talk.

  • 17 years ago

    I agree...this is at least the 2nd time around for the "green" movement. I'm 62 and in the early 70's recycling meant carting huge garbage bags of cans to the aluminum company but we did it. There was a huge amount of time, until AlGore spoke, that not much was done except some towns with curbside recycling.

    May I ask, Mr. Gore, have you recycled all this time, turned off your lights when leaving the room, how's your carbon footprint Al? HHHHMMMM? It's got to be a lifestyle! For some it's never NOT BEEN a lifestyle. I crack up with all the "green" advice out there. Why hasn't there been more encouragement of this in direct tax cuts to those who would love to do solar and wind with some financial incentives as it's VERY costly. Oh, yeah, I know, guess it's only ONE vote. Whatever! If I'm being too political, I apoligize, please erase my post if you need to :(

  • 17 years ago

    Well... I don't have enough carbon so when I take my son to the park I have a special drawstring duffel bag that I fill with old left over dry leaves that I gather from under the bushes and at the edges of the playground. I wonder what the other parents think of me, and it's a little embarrassing but I have kitchen scraps to subdue so until I get a big pile of leaves in the fall, I'm going to steal them from the park!

  • 17 years ago

    Oregongirlie, OPBL are much quicker and more convenient, can you go curb shopping for leaves?

  • 17 years ago

    My hubby and I were walking in our neighborhood. I noticed that along the sides of the paved road leaves and other items were left over from a recent rain storm. I decided to stir up one of these very small piles and discovered they were ALIVE with earthworms! I so longed to pick the piles up but I had no container. At the end of the street I found a beaten up plastic bucket and a plastic bag. I scooped a small amount of the leaves and worms and finished the walk with this plastic bucket full of road stuff. I added them to my compost pile. Now I wonder how I can easily get more of this stuff...it was beautiful!

  • 17 years ago

    I drive a 16 year old Dodge van with no seats in the back due to hauling stuff to art shows.

    I LOVE this time of the year (and the fall) when I can drive around my neighborhood with a 35 gallon garbage can and a box of lawn bags and scoop up grass/leaf clippings. Already chopped! BEAUTIFUL stuff! I've probably put 60 bags of stuff in the back yard this year.

  • 17 years ago

    pennymca, thanks, what a great idea...and gladgourd, that's very inspiring. Thanks to you also, sounds like a good way to pass some time.

  • 17 years ago

    If you own an industrial chipper/shredder and you hang out by the mortuary, telling people that you can save them the cost of digging a hole, I think you've gone too far. Short of that . . .? I'm not sure I understand the concept.

  • 17 years ago

    Bogydave, you will probably regret having put the horse manure compost on your lawn. I spread a lot of horse manure/wood shavings compost in my yard and now I have some kind of giant coarse grass 18 inches high growing all over the place. This compost was supposed to be certified to be weed free but apparently it wasn't.

  • 17 years ago

    You guys are funny! It's true, I started a compost pile in the winter, and suddenly everywhere i looked i saw a possible addition to my pile. Yes, my neighbors think I'm a little crazy, but i think the guy who burns his brush and mows his lawn 3x a week is the crazy one!
    Doesn't he know that brush could be shredded....
    I know they all get a kick out of me digging up earthworms, collecting them when it rains, taking them to the compost bin and putting them in. Oh well.

  • 17 years ago

    My friend's wife had us take our veggie waste from a BBQ straight to one of her compost bins! Try THAT next time your friends are over! ;-))

  • 17 years ago

    When you build your compost pile below your kitchen window so you can throw all the kitchen waste out the window.

    (It's very convenient........)

  • 17 years ago

    What is OPBL? I don't go curb shopping for others' leaves because the season is over and I missed it before I started the compost pile. Also, our neighborhood has lots of old peeling lead paint and I don't want other people's "rakings". I know it's crazy, but I brought a truckload of soil from the suburbs to garden in, and I"m not taking any chances with it.

  • 17 years ago

    "What is OPBL?"

    Other people's bagged leaves.

  • 17 years ago

    I was watering one of my heaps yesterday and I noticed that the water was coming out warm so I rushed and grabbed a bottle of shampoo and a towel and ran back to wash my hair while leaning over the compost heap. Water is far too precious to waste just on hair washing, but I figured it was ok if I just used the stuff that was going on the heap anyway. Oh, and the shampoo is biodegradable...

    Is this going too far?