Composting

[JohnRoberts]

I generally find California a source of poor judgement but I can support a new bill signed by Gov Newsom to legalize human composting.

They join a handful of other states.

I compost in my back yard, but suspect they will figure out a ways to make it more complicated. The general advice is to avoid putting meat in your compost pile because it takes longer to break down and smells like a dead animal (go figure).

JR

 

[Recording Engineer]

It’s great for the environment, yada yada yada, but it still sucks in application. Oh well. Sac County decided on little plastic handheld buckets (to be set on the kitchen counter or in the alrighty small enough freezer so it doesn’t stink) to be picked from their offices. Now we buy little compostable bags to put in it (that we have to double up on or it leaks through) and have to take it out to the big green waste can almost daily, that is now picked up weekly. My brother is on a 1/2 acre and has been composting for his large garden for many years.

 

[crazydoc]

I've been garden composting for years - garden and yard waste, and an old crock pot with plastic grocery bags on the kitchen counter.

They're going to have to bring the price down for body composting for me. It's good environmentally, but prices are over $5000, and I can be burned (pickup, burn and deliver back in a box) for about $1000.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I've been garden composting for years - garden and yard waste, and an old crock pot with plastic grocery bags on the kitchen counter.

I have been composting mostly vegetable food waste for years. I have a miniature garbage can with pedal operated lid that I sit on my kitchen counter, so it doesn't stink up the kitchen... I still don't put any meat into the compost which seems to be a catch for human composting.

They're going to have to bring the price down for body composting for me. It's good environmentally, but prices are over $5000, and I can be burned (pickup, burn and deliver back in a box) for about $1000.

I've been looking into donating my body to science, when I checked years ago they would take what they want then cremate the leftovers, no charge. But it was all shut down during covid. I need to check it again.

JR

 

[chilidawg]

John, have you ever tried crushed eggshells for composting? Recently someone told me about this because I have a culinary business and we use a lot of eggs, so I tried it for about a week, bringing back home the crushed eggshells in plastic bags, then scattering them on the soil in my garden, and wow, I'm very impressed at the result. Even my wife commented that it seems to her that the flowers are blooming much more beautiful than before.

 

[AnalogPackrat]

John, have you ever tried crushed eggshells for composting? Recently someone told me about this because I have a culinary business and we use a lot of eggs, so I tried it for about a week, bringing back home the crushed eggshells in plastic bags, then scattering them on the soil in my garden, and wow, I'm very impressed at the result. Even my wife commented that it seems to her that the flowers are blooming much more beautiful than before.

Crushed eggshells add calcium, so if your soil is calcium-poor or your plants need calcium (e.g., tomatoes) they are a cheap way to supplement. What kinds of flowers are you growing?

 

[okgb]

Composting for me , reduces the amount of garbage I have to get picked up [ I often don't have enough to throw out weekly, but that's living alone ] but using my grass clippings & tree leaves and house food wastes [ & coffee grounds ] it doesn't produce much soil in a year.

 

[JohnRoberts]

John, have you ever tried crushed eggshells for composting? Recently someone told me about this because I have a culinary business and we use a lot of eggs, so I tried it for about a week, bringing back home the crushed eggshells in plastic bags, then scattering them on the soil in my garden, and wow, I'm very impressed at the result. Even my wife commented that it seems to her that the flowers are blooming much more beautiful than before.

I don't eat enough eggs to be significant but indeed calcium is good for the tomatoes.

I don't specifically compost food waste to make soil, but as more responsible way to deal with my trash.

JR

 

[AnalogPackrat]

Composting for me , reduces the amount of garbage I have to get picked up [ I often don't have enough to throw out weekly, but that's living alone ] but using my grass clippings & tree leaves and house food wastes [ & coffee grounds ] it doesn't produce much soil in a year.

Soil is mostly mineral. Your food and yard scraps are mostly water. When they decompose and dry out there's not much volume left, but what is there makes a good amendment to garden soil.

I try to keep two piles. One for new stuff and the other that has sat for a few months and decomposed. The old one gets used as a soil amendment (garden, shrub beds, etc) then a new pile is started and the cycle continues.

 

[Tubetec]

Theres a plastic composter sold here in hardware stores ,it has 4 sides that slot together and a lid , they were very popular for a while but the open end is like an invitation to dinner for rats . I abandoned using them years ago for that reason . Instead I got a standard galvanised dustbin , drilled a few holes in the end and in the lid . Ive never had the same pest issues since , the worms from the ground make it up into the bin and help speed the process along , a few months ago I looked into it on a hot summer day , there was a huge worm ball on the top ,must have been millions of them in there , what your left over with is a very fine silt , Wormpost they call it , I mix it with water in a bottle and use it as fetilliser , its the best you can get , the fine silt makes right down into the roots and the nutrients are instantly available to the plant .

 

[chilidawg]

What kinds of flowers are you growing?

Ain't got a clue. Some of them were planted from seeds that my wife brought home from a nearby park, and some others the flowers were growing on the side of a road that we passed by, but I'm quite sure the pink one in this photo is Morning Glory.








Tiny bits of crushed eggshells in this pot