My Mantis came today and composting questions!!!

And I can't wait to use it. I have to get the gas and oil for it.

I am still going to have my garden "professionally" tilled but this will be great for my overgrown existing flower beds.

I also would like to start composting. I have a flyer and I was surprised at some of the items that can be put on a compost pile. What all do you put on yours if you have one.

p.s. I just didn't want to start a new thread, I figured these topics were close enough to be in one thread.

Eventually everything rots - even stones become sand. But for composting at home you want a mix of mostly browns and some greens. What are these? Browns are things like autumn leaves, shredded newspaper (they use soy inks nowadays so perfectly safe), cardboard. Greens are animal manure, green weeds, lawn clippings (but not if you use weed killers), kitchen waste like carrot and potato peels, egg shells, coffee grounds (Starbucks gives away used coffee grounds), left-over salad but not with dressing, etc.

I bag up autumn leaves in the fall to have them available in summer.

What to avoid - meat scraps, fats, cheese, citrus peels, any diseased plant parts (avoid peony leaves with mildew, etc.)

You want more browns than greens. Keep it about as damp as a wrung out sponge. "Dish" the heap so there's a small hollow in the center. This allows rain to soak in rather than run off.

Smaller pieces compost more rapidly than larger ones - shred newspaper rather than dropping the Sunday New York Times in one large wodge <grin>

Occasionally add a shovel full or two of good garden soil. This has all the good microorganisms to kick start your compost heap. Once you have the first heap going you can use some of the finished compost (looks like soil rather than what you tossed in to rot) as your starter.

Remember, you can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much compost!

If you have a dog, their poop makes great compost but it's not good to use on things that you're going to eat. We have a separate compost bin just for dog waste at my parents house - it's a trash can that's been mostly buried into the ground. It breaks down pretty quickly when as long as it's moved around.

With leaves, we always raked them up and then buried them in our gardens in the fall. By the time you're ready to work in the garden the next year they're composted already.

If you're going to be buying a composter, I highly recommend the ones that look like barrels that are on a stand so that you can just turn the handle to mix it - much easier!

Two issues with the compost tumblers -

1) If you keep adding new material how do you take out finished compost?

2) They're so small! I have three "primary" bins. Each is 8 feet by 8 feet. (Of course, I also have a large garden.) One bin is finished compost (amazing how the pile shrinks down as it rots.) Another is material in the process of breaking down. And the third is the bin for adding material during the current gardening season.

Compost bins can be made out of several old pallets, or out of plastic coated fencing with a few metal fence posts to hold it up, or even just pileds up with no confinement.

Compost is not like money in the bank. It gets used up. Keep in mind that one acre of deciduous woodland drops a ton to a ton and a half of leaves and litter Every Year. Compost is A Good Thing. Plants like compost. Gardeners like plants, so we also like compost.

What is a mantis? When I read the title of this thread I thought you got an insect!!!

Originally Posted by Catapault

Two issues with the compost tumblers -

1) If you keep adding new material how do you take out finished compost?

2) They're so small! I have three "primary" bins. Each is 8 feet by 8 feet. (Of course, I also have a large garden.) One bin is finished compost (amazing how the pile shrinks down as it rots.) Another is material in the process of breaking down. And the third is the bin for adding material during the current gardening season.

Compost bins can be made out of several old pallets, or out of plastic coated fencing with a few metal fence posts to hold it up, or even just pileds up with no confinement.

Compost is not like money in the bank. It gets used up. Keep in mind that one acre of deciduous woodland drops a ton to a ton and a half of leaves and litter Every Year. Compost is A Good Thing. Plants like compost. Gardeners like plants, so we also like compost.

Click to expand...

I'll have to ask my mom about the rotating one, she has a large one as well as the dog bin composter and then one like your talking about (although the wood is starting to rot and fall into the compost, but it has been over 25 years that it's held up).

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

What is a mantis? When I read the title of this thread I thought you got an insect!!!

Click to expand...

Its a tiller!!

That company also has a rotating compost bin but its upwards of 500 bucks.

I was also surprised at some of the stuff that can be composted that I throw away: dryer lint..cat hair...human hair from my brush...newspaper that I pay to recycle..

I think I could really get into this.

I read this:

Did you know the hair on your head contains 30 times more nitrogen
than manure? Next time you go to the hairdresser, ask for a few pounds
of this nitrogen gold mine to add to your compost.

I have no shame..I will go to where I get my hair cut and ask for hair if it will help me with an awesome garden.

Compost is NOT fertilizer. It is a soil amendment, sort of like the roughage in your garden's diet. Compost provides a substrate for the microorganisms that help make nutrients available to your plants.

Dryer lint is a problem because it felts up. Hair is slow to break down. If you really want to boost the nitrogen get someone male to pee into the compost heap. (Difficult for women to aim into the compost heap <chortle>) Urine is high in nitrogen. That's why when a dog pees on the lawn it kills the grass - over-fertilized and burns it.

I do throw the cats' fur that collects when I comb them and add it to my compost bucket in the kitchen, which when full of banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, used tea bags etc gets emptied into the compost bin outdoors. Collecting hair from your beauty shop . . . . coffee grounds from Starbucks (doesn't matter if decaf or not) is more useful.

I am envious! We do have a compost bin that DH made years ago, but stopped using it. We should start it back up again!

Enjoy your Mantis, zohdee! And congrats!

I wasn't impressed with the mantis. I have the Honda version of a mini tiller. No need to mix gas for it. The mini tillers work better when you pull it backwards.
I've been composting for years with the 3 bins system mine are 4x4x4. I try to turn then compost when I can but I use all the recommendation above. I through in weeds too.

What is the three bin system?

I am trying to get away as cheaply as I can.

When I use my cross cut paper shredder, I add the tiny bits of paper to my compost pile.
I used 3 wooden pallets to create my bin at least 12 years ago; I left the front open for easy access.

Three bin system goes like this:

Bin A - completely broken down compost, looks like earth, may have delightful mushroom-y smell, ready to use in garden

Bin B - material in the process of breaking down into compost, some pieces may still be recognizable, "chunky" in texture

Bin C - bin to which you are currently adding kitchen and yard waste.

As Bin A is finally emptied the ideal situation it to turn contents of Bin B into Bin A, then empty contents of Bin C into Bin B and voila, Bin C is now empty and ready to receive more material when you start again next season.

Turning a compost heap is very hard work. I confess I rarely do this, as my high school age helper "moved on." It does speed up the process of decay. And, as things break down the pile gets smaller. Don't be tempted to add more on top - just means you cannot easily get to the completely broken down, ready to use compost. That's where the 3 bin system is so useful.

Shredded paper is a good "brown" = carbonaceous. (Materials higher in nitrogen such as manure, urine, green weeds = nitrogenous.)

Happy gardening!

You know, I really wish there was a way to use used cat litter. If somebody would figure out a way to recycle that, he or she would be rich. I know it's not good for either vegetable gardens or flower beds. Except for the boxes with scoopable litter, we end up throwing it all away every week....and that's not a good option either. And it's expensive.

DH and I were talking over the weekend and we'd like to start composting again. Thanks for the 3-bin explanation. We were just throwing it all in one bin and trying to turn it over every so often.

I LOVE my Mantis. It was a bit hard to get used to since I have never run a tiller before...my arms hurt!!

Alot of the ground was still to wet to till easily...the dirt clumped in the tines. I just had to take them off and get the dirt off them.

It is not good to work the soil when it is too wet. Digging wet soil - by hand or with your Mantis - can destroy the tilth, or texture, of the soil.

One tip - clean the tines very well, dry them, and spray with Pam or any other cooking spray. Keeps the soil from adhering to the metal. You'll need to reapply periodically if you're doing a lot of tilling in one work period.

I learned that tip from an older man who was plowing a field with a team of Belgian draft horses. He was teaching my friend who owned the two horses how to work them.

In case you're worried - no, the minute amount of oil does not harm the soil in any way.