starting my first compost, this should be fun.

[marijuanavillebilly]

well i got a 10 gallon kitty litter bucket, filled it a bout 1/8 the way up with old dead plants that are dry, then put some coffee grounds egg shells some shredded news paper and bread, then i added some soil on top of it to create a new base for the next set of layers of the same thing.
i did this about 2 and 1/2 times then wetted down till water came outta the holes then compressed it, and forced out excess water.

then i sealed the lid on top and put it ontop of a cinderblock.

does this sound good?

[stinkyattic]

You want to turn it over every so often. And adding some compost bacteria/fungi from the garden store is important since you aren't in contact with the soil, and regular compost HEAPS benefit from soil contact.
That sounds like a rather small container but will be a neat experiment. I'm thinkng you should go over to GardenWeb (another set of forums, even geekier than these, inhabited by people who take their rose bushes altogether too seriously hahaha) and check out the composting section.

[marijuanavillebilly]

i figured it was too small to i took a trip to Lowes, and picked up a 35 gallon plastic industrial garbage can, drilled the crap outta it and added a layer of dirt/used soil about 3 gallons worth of paper, rotten potatoes, old plants, (with soil and root ball) light layer of mulch then a generous layer of used soil and then a thisck layer of mulch and paper, then finished it off with a nich heap of soil.

the can is almost all the way full now.

[cwesto]

Wow, that sounds tricky..... what exactly do u do w/ compost??? Feed it to plants? or grow the plant in the compost?

[texas grass]

Wow, that sounds tricky..... what exactly do u do w/ compost??? Feed it to plants? or grow the plant in the compost?

it is mixed with the soil or make teas with it. the great thing about compost is its alive and all the beneficial microheard is what helps the plant with most every aspect of growing

[marijuanavillebilly]

yeah im gunna grow tomatoes and other herbs in it.

anyone know of anything i can do to speed up the proces?