Generally, yup.

Some people run some of their kitchen stuff through their blenders.

Lloyd

not at all. Sure smaller will break down faster, but I've found that most things still break down pretty darn quick regardless. One of the exceptions is beef bones, but I can snap them into pieces after a couple months in the bin if I care too.

About the only thing I cut up is grapefruit peels, usually give them an extra slice or two. Most everything else goes in however it was generated. The chunks I find in my finished compost are sticks and root balls that came from the yard, not kitchen scraps.

egg shells - just cracked in half from using egg - they disappear

broccoli stems (just don't like the stems!) about an inch thick cut

citrus peels - I slice 'em a bit if the peel was just cut in half like for juicing, but if I peeled in in pieces to eat the fruit whole then those peels go in bin "as is"

everything else - as is, no chopping

It depends on how big and active your piles are and how much of a hurry you are in. As is is fine in large active piles.

Smaller is faster if you are in a hurry. I'm not. And chopping is better if you run small piles or tumblers. I don't.

Dave

oh most vines like tomatoes should be chopped up with something or they make it almost impossible to turn the pile for a while.

Yeah, I agree that if you have pile of any size, your kitchen waste can all just be dropped in. If something is hard like a winter squash, just stab it a couple times so the bacteria and creatures can get in, but otherwise it will be crushed in good time.

It's more likely the "woody" garden waste that needs to be cut--broccoli stems are a good one. When I rip them out after they bolt, I find it's good to chop them up or they just hang around for a long time.

I have a brussel sprout stem that is going on it's second year and third pile. I think I'll get it this year.

I usually chop things like grapefruit and cantaloupe half rinds but not always. Depends on how "compostey" I am feeling. I do tear TT or paper towel cardboard into little pieces.

Amazing how egg shells will still be in almost finished cold compost but I usually smash them with a shovel when putting on the garden.

Everything eventually becomes the goal.

Kitchen scraps not at all. I did mow by OPBL last year and mowed a few bales of hay that I was also using to mulch the yard and garden. I also cut up the tomato plants as they were going in.

In my 3x3x4 bin, nothing goes in that is larger than quarter-sized, except for the coffee filters. I don't put sticks in or unchopped leaves. Egg shells get smashed, weeds get ripped or cut up. I keep big scissors at the bin. Goes down very fast.
Sunny

I've been composting for several years and have never chopped anything...not that I didn't try. I tried to chop leaves with a Black and Decker leaf blower/sucker but the plastic blades got more beat up than the leaves did. I tried mowing the leaves but that vaporized them, so I didn't have anything left to compost. Now I just pile the leaves up and keep them moist.

Kitchen scraps go in whole no matter what size they started. I have composted many a pumpkin that went into the pile whole. I have also composted rats, a squirrel, and a dog all without chopping.

Chop up kitchen refuse? I buried a whole dead chicken in the pile last month. (Wonder if it's done cooking yet?)

I do chop sunflower and corn stalks to two or three foot lengths to fit them in the piles, though.

Wayne

No chopping at all. We're all pretty busy. The compost beasties need to pull their weight like everybody else around here. There are no free rides. :)

I never chop any kitchen waste. Why make work? Brassica stems get a few hacks with a spade. Jerusalem artichoke stems get broken into pieces by hand and fruit bush prunings get snipped up a bit with the secateurs. I compost the cold, slow, patient (ie lazy) way. Once the system is up and running and you have several bins on the speed of an individual heap is not important. I'm with mrclint - let the compost heap do the work.

I don't chop up either but this reminds me of an a cyberbuddy who mentioned she would put all her refrigerator nasties in her Vitamix and then pour it on her potted plants outside. They LOVED it but her husband said it looked like dragon vomit and wouldn't let her do it unless she covered it with something else.

Note: I'm not advocating the purchase of a Vitamix but if somebody already has one, it might be an interesting experiment.

"dragon vomit"

Now there is an image that will be stuck in my head all day!

Do not google "dragon vomit" and watch the Komodo clip, DO NOT do it.

Lloyd

Lloyd, you convinced me.

I'm with mrclint and flora. I haven't got a lot of time to waste.

HA

love the vitamix idea

This thread made me laugh out loud several time. It is so fun to see my own thoughts and attitudes expressed by others.

Nancy