Compost people, how do you keep your food scraps?

[helena]

Do you use a ceramic container? Do you use some other container you had handy in the house?

I built a nice big compost with materials I had lying around, so I'd like to keep it cheap or free. But, if the ceramic or metal containers are clean and easy, I'll happily pick one up.

 

I'm loving my new compost, is it wrong that I want everyone to pee on it??:lol:

 

Here's a few containers I found on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00061N0S2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001FB59X6&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1Z74RY7KE3683VJ0JF8G

 

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Gallon-Ceramic-Compost-Keeper/dp/B001FB59X6

 

:bigear:

[fairfarmhand]

i use one of those gallon size ice cream buckets. Nto pretty but it keeps it from stinking. :)

[helena]

i use one of those gallon size ice cream buckets. Nto pretty but it keeps it from stinking. :)

 

Do you poke holes in the lid, or use a filter? How often do you dump it?

[fairfarmhand]

Do you poke holes in the lid, or use a filter? How often do you dump it?

 

 

I dump it bout every day or two. We have chickens so they pick through what they want and the rest goes through the natural cycle. If I dump it every day or every second day it doesn't get smelly. But the tight plastic lid does keep the kitchen from smelling like whatever food stuffs got scraped in there.

[keptwoman]

10 litre bucket with a lid. I think 10 litres is about 2 1/2 gallons.

[Lady Florida.]

i use one of those gallon size ice cream buckets. Nto pretty but it keeps it from stinking. :)

 

That's what we use.

[helena]

Ah!! I found a big plastic container with a lid!

That just saved me $20-$40.

Somehow it seems more exciting knowing I didn't have to spend any money on it.

 

And.. it's been pee'd on. :001_huh:

Now I'm enjoying some argument over whether that's okay to do!

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg042142151191.html

 

So much to learn! :001_smile:

[min]

I use a 2 litre bucket from some yoghurt. I empty it a couple of times a day, usually.

 

Min

[min]

I should say, I live in Australia, and we're having a long, hot summer. :( Food scraps (and I compost meat as well) starts to smell if it doesn't go into the compost fairly fast, so I am motivated more by that than by minimising trips to the compost tumbler!

 

Min

[jenn&charles]

I use a Tupperware container similar to the picture below (the tall one to the far right in the picture).

 

We dump it out into our compost pile either every night or every other night depending on how full it gets. I considered buying one of the things you linked to, but after using the Tupperware I already had, realized it would be a waste of money. This doesn't smell and it can easily be washed in the dishwasher and ready to use again the next day.

You don't need any filters or bags either!

[Truscifi]

We use old ziploc bags. After they have been used for their original purpose I put them in a hidey hole in my kitchen and pull them out to reuse as compost bags. They are used there until they get too yucky or won't stay zipped anymore, then they are finally tossed.

[Mother Superior]

That's what we use.

 

 

Same here. It's my 6 year old's daily job to take it out to the garden and dump it in the big composter.

[MSNative]

I use an old tupperware with lid and keep it on the bottom shelf of the fridge. No smell. It gets dumped when it gets full - 2 or 3 times a week.

 

Coffee grounds go in an old tupperware that goes in the cupboard below the coffee maker. Dumped once a week. No smell.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Do you use a ceramic container? Do you use some other container you had handy in the house?

I built a nice big compost with materials I had lying around, so I'd like to keep it cheap or free. But, if the ceramic or metal containers are clean and easy, I'll happily pick one up.

 

I'm loving my new compost, is it wrong that I want everyone to pee on it??:lol:

 

Here's a few containers I found on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00061N0S2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001FB59X6&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1Z74RY7KE3683VJ0JF8G

 

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Gallon-Ceramic-Compost-Keeper/dp/B001FB59X6

 

:bigear:

 

I use some disposable container until it wears out and then I use another one. The only problem with this is that I try to keep my use of disposable containers to a minimum. It's usually baby spinach.

 

It's my daughter's chore to take it out in the morning when she lets the chickens out. They spend the day piddling through it.

 

I once considered offering the neighbor boy a quarter to tinkle on it but I'm happy to say I actually know better. PPl would frown. My daughter won't even consider it, not even for a whole quarter. ;)

[helena]

We use old ziploc bags. After they have been used for their original purpose I put them in a hidey hole in my kitchen and pull them out to reuse as compost bags. They are used there until they get too yucky or won't stay zipped anymore, then they are finally tossed.

 

Hmm.. I've been holding on to some used large freezer bags.. Maybe I'll start with that, then I don't have to give up my biggest tupperware container.

Where do you keep the bag?

[helena]

I use an old tupperware with lid and keep it on the bottom shelf of the fridge. No smell. It gets dumped when it gets full - 2 or 3 times a week.

 

Coffee grounds go in an old tupperware that goes in the cupboard below the coffee maker. Dumped once a week. No smell.

 

Why do you use 2 containers?

:bigear:

[roxanne23]

.

Edited January 4, 2023 by roxanne23

[LibraryLover]

We have chickens & put out scraps, oatmeal bits etc twice a day, so we don't need a system. Items the chickens do not eat; avocado pits, coffee grounds, potato peels etc go to the compost right away. Our compost is in our yard, so we don't need to save them up. I put them in a bowl. We go outside multiple times a day, so we just dump them.

Edited February 10, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Truscifi]

Hmm.. I've been holding on to some used large freezer bags.. Maybe I'll start with that, then I don't have to give up my biggest tupperware container.

Where do you keep the bag?

 

I have a built in open front cabinet space for keeping cutting boards handy. I keep them tucked to the side in that, with my bread slicing guide on top of them to hold them down.

 

Since I know not everyone has that, you might try having a 'bag of bags' under the kitchen sink.

 

On second read, you might have been asking where I keep them while they're being filled. :tongue_smilie: The one being filled sits on the counter in the corner and ds has the chore of taking it out as needed.

[KrissiK]

I buy yogurt in the big 64 oz. tubs. So, I use those and then I can change them more often and not feel guilty since I'm already recycling them.

[Renthead Mommy]

I put mine in a stainless steel kitchen bin that made to sit on the counter. Mainly because someone got it for me. If I didn't have that I'd just use whatever. But then I lived in Texas with year round basically good weather.

 

In Japan I stared using a bokashi bucket. That was just in the panty so everything went right into that and then I'd bury that once it got full in the "garden" area. We couldn't compost.

 

I love my bokashi bucket. It sits in the kitchen below one end of the island. When my stainless steel fills up, I dump that into the bokashi bucket with a little EM. When that is full I drain off the bokashi juice (the bucket has a spigot) which is great for plants (diluted like 10:1) or pour down the drain (good for clearing water systems too). If it's too cold/snowy to get to the compost I've got a black garbage bag just outside the back door. Dump it in. It will start to work when it's warm enough out. Oh and bokashi pickles the scraps, it doesn't rot them in the bucket, so there's no smell.

 

And last summer my husband peed in the compost for me. Well not in it, since our back yard is only 50' wide by only 20feet deep. But, well the conversation went something like this:

 

Me: (walking into bedroom where he is sitting on bed typing) "So what are the odds you'll pee in a bucket for me and not ask a lot of questions??"

 

Him: typing stops mid type. Head comes up, he realized that yes, he really did just hear what he thought he heard. Slowly looks at me. "OH there's going to be questions! Big questions!" But in the end it did. I may sound like a lunatic on his facebook page, but the important thing was my compost bin really kicked up a notch after that!

[helena]

I put mine in a stainless steel kitchen bin that made to sit on the counter. Mainly because someone got it for me. If I didn't have that I'd just use whatever. But then I lived in Texas with year round basically good weather.

 

In Japan I stared using a bokashi bucket. That was just in the panty so everything went right into that and then I'd bury that once it got full in the "garden" area. We couldn't compost.

 

I love my bokashi bucket. It sits in the kitchen below one end of the island. When my stainless steel fills up, I dump that into the bokashi bucket with a little EM. When that is full I drain off the bokashi juice (the bucket has a spigot) which is great for plants (diluted like 10:1) or pour down the drain (good for clearing water systems too). If it's too cold/snowy to get to the compost I've got a black garbage bag just outside the back door. Dump it in. It will start to work when it's warm enough out. Oh and bokashi pickles the scraps, it doesn't rot them in the bucket, so there's no smell.

 

And last summer my husband peed in the compost for me. Well not in it, since our back yard is only 50' wide by only 20feet deep. But, well the conversation went something like this:

 

Me: (walking into bedroom where he is sitting on bed typing) "So what are the odds you'll pee in a bucket for me and not ask a lot of questions??"

 

Him: typing stops mid type. Head comes up, he realized that yes, he really did just hear what he thought he heard. Slowly looks at me. "OH there's going to be questions! Big questions!" But in the end it did. I may sound like a lunatic on his facebook page, but the important thing was my compost bin really kicked up a notch after that!

 

:lol:

Yeah, I just mentioned it to hubby and 15 minutes later he came walking in with a funny smile. Luckily we have a private back yard!

[UmMusa]

I use a ceramic canister that used to be where I stored my flour. Then the lid cracked and broke. I still couldn't bring myself to throw away the canister, so now it sits by the sink and gets the food scraps. In the summer I might set a small plate over the top to keep the stink out till I throw the food out.

[Laura Corin]

I have two large tupperware-style boxes. I fill the first and put a lid on it, fill the second then take the whole lot out (about once a week).

 

Laura

[Peela]

We have a chicken bucket and a compost bucket. The chicken bucket goes out daily and the chickens get the bulk of the daily scraps. Its a simple small plastic container with no lid. Because a lid would make it less easy to throw the scraps in. Since it goes out daily it doesn't smell.

 

The compost bucket is a system I bought when I must have had too much money in my purse. But its nice to have.

bokashi.com.au/

It involves a product that you sprinkle on the scraps, that helps break them down. It doesn't look like much is happening but when you then empty the bin into the compost heap it breaks down very quickly, so it is already partially composted in the bucket.

I like it because I tend to only empty it every couple of weeks (since the chooks get the bulk of the scraps) and it has things like onion skins and orange peels and corn husks in it- stuff the chooks tend not to eat.

 

And when I get my worm farm going again...there will be another container.

 

Really, an ice cream container is sufficient for compost. I know people who have larger buckets though and keep them in the laundry...but we need it right next to the sink or no one would bother putting their scraps in it.

[Poke Salad Annie]

I don't have a compost bin, but I do save kitchen scraps. I save everything in gallon zip locks until the bags are full, usually over a period of three days or so. I take the bags to my garden and dig holes about a foot deep or so, then dump the contents and turn the soil over. I recover everything with the mulch layer. I don't know if I'm doing this incorrectly, but the soil in my garden is much better, and the worm population is growing as well.

 

I decided to go this route, as it was a lazy way for me to compost our scraps without using either a bin or worm farm. We originally wanted to start a worm farm, but since it wasn't happening, I went the easier route.

[keptwoman]

I don't have a compost bin, but I do save kitchen scraps. I save everything in gallon zip locks until the bags are full, usually over a period of three days or so. I take the bags to my garden and dig holes about a foot deep or so, then dump the contents and turn the soil over. I recover everything with the mulch layer. I don't know if I'm doing this incorrectly, but the soil in my garden is much better, and the worm population is growing as well.

 

I decided to go this route, as it was a lazy way for me to compost our scraps without using either a bin or worm farm. We originally wanted to start a worm farm, but since it wasn't happening, I went the easier route.

This is what we do too. Except I just throw it on the garden and then toss some mulch over.

We have a large worm farm, but since we started garden composting, it's been rather neglected.

[Jane in NC]

I have one of the ceramic containers with filters which was given to me. Prior to receiving it, I used a large plastic container.

 

The ceramic advantage seems mostly aesthetic.

[Poke Salad Annie]

This is what we do too. Except I just throw it on the garden and then toss some mulch over.

We have a large worm farm, but since we started garden composting, it's been rather neglected.

 

We really wanted to start a worm farm. I think it was one of those things that end up in the planning stages on paper, and well, you know....

 

I wanted to also mention that I bury lots of things---old cake with the frosting, cookies and bread that are stale, leftover cooked pasta that I didn't use, etc. I did wonder about burying a jar of artichoke hearts in olive oil which stayed in the fridge too long, but I think I read somewhere not to use oils in compost piles. I wish I knew more about what is okay and not okay to bury. I do not add any meat or dairy for now.

Edited February 10, 2011 by Poke Salad Annie
correcting

[MSNative]

Why do you use 2 containers?

:bigear:

 

I like to keep the coffee separate 'cause I like to sprinkle them on top of my garden - esp. my containers. For some reason, the coffee grounds seem to keep pests away and keep down on weeds. No scientific proof here - just something that works in my garden.

[lllll]

..

[Hannah]

My daughter made a deep jar at pottery that sits on the kitchen counter. We throw it out daily.

 

Not that we have had much opportunity to compost lately. A porcupine has found the compost bin!! It is the type with doors at the bottom. He/She has managed to break off the doors, dig out the bit of compost we left in it and eats the scraps!