none today, but does twice yesterday count?

kitchen scraps
one lil bag UCG from Starbucks
fruit peelings from co-workers' lunches
coffee grounds/filter and breakfast leftovers from a different coworker lol
and however much rain/snow snuck in while i was turning the pile

is there such a thing as too much UCG? i just have a simple black plastic bin that I bought at a school fundraiser. It probably holds as much as a 32 gal trash can (maybe).

My greens in the form of plucked and profuse (approaching bloom) henbit over a gentle urging of urea (sorry, all you organic people, but the high N works wonderfully to drop the pile).

Nothing for Thursday, am having a bad flare up of pain in my hips and can barely walk in the house, much less get up and down the steps to go out to the piles. But I'll make up for it when DGD gets here for the weekend. She will gladly feed the piles for me:)

Sassy

I continue to scarf up UCG's from the office ---still getting those sideways looks but don't care ----some are even coming over to the "dark side" and asking if I want them before they toss 'em----divide and conquer !!

will add bananna peels ---apple cores --leftover potatos from pot roast ---dying green leaves from houseplants and some wintergrass thats volunteered in the lawn this year ---
and later tonight some liquid gold after a coupla beers ---

have a good weekend all -----JB

Fair Trade banana promotion at school today. Guess who's heap got 200 peels?

Wowzers! 200 banana peels? You're gonna have a happy pile:)

Well, thanks to my sweet DGD, my piles got fed a decent meal today.

Today was clean out the fridge day, so:
little bits of leftovers from assorted meals this week
a fuddy partial head of lettuce
some grape stems and a few mushy grapes
plus
some UCG and tea bags
and a buncha shredded junk mail and shredded cardboard
and shavings from the pencil sharpener

Sassy

PS, slightly OT, but I would appreciate any prayers or positive thoughts you guys could send my way. I have really been in a lot of pain this week (polymyalgia rheumatica) and have been having trouble walking and just getting around in general. Thank you so much!

kyndall--i have a friend who spells her name just like yours---she has a wonderfull soul just like you,,,,,,,,,,,my momma used to say " God Bless Your Angel Heart......

keep up the good work........

and i wish you well...........

R

Thanks ruvin, actually Kyndall and Surae are my two little granddaughters, the reason I do all I do:) Kyndall is 6 and Surae is 6 months. They are a handful, but they are also my will to keep on going! But your kind words just touched me so much! My name is Jada, but my nickname is Sassy:)

Hi Sassy, DW has fibromyalgia/arthritis and DD has vasculitis, so I think I understand what you speak of. Best wishes from the frozen far north. :-)

Lloyd

Thanks Lloyd, and some (((((gentle))))) hugs for your DW and DD. I made them gentle causes sometimes even a hug hurts. Does the cold weather up there affect their pain levels, or are they just conditioned to it? Cold weather is hard on me. I could never make it in a very cold climate. We got up into the mid 70's today and it was like heaven to me:)

I didn't send anything out to the piles tonight, but pretty much filled the kitchen scrap container up so it will have to go out tomorrow.

Sassy

Mornin' Sassy

DW won't/can't go out in the winter unless it is critical (Dr. appointment), cold is too much. I understand the gentle hugs, somedays just the sheets on the bed can cause discomfort/pain. DD isn't quite as bad, prednisone and cellcept work very well for her but side affects are an issue.

Still too cold to play outside much, -15C this morning on the way to work. Compost still frozen. :-(

Lloyd

Lloyd, I'll add them to my daily prayer list:) Maybe I'll have a good day today, iot's up to 72F already here. Hard to believe we had snow last week. But I'll take this weather any time. Hopefully I can coerce DS to turn my piles today.

Sassy

Last week both my piles were frozen. Today I checked them and they were thawed and got turned for the first time this year. I had a nice mess of filleted pan fish remains to add . I had a lot of last years fall leaves in there and hopefully my pile will heat up. I looked around in my garden today for the first time. I had worms everywhere! The newspaper mulch with grass clippings and all the UCG paid off.

Scott.

I actually tossed my compost heap for the first time this early spring. It was still a little frozen in the middle, but still. I added into it the remains of a dead owl, mostly bones and feathers at this point. It kinda creeped me out, but I had read about people putting whole raccoons in theirs on the other board, so I figured what the heck.

Also, LOTS of UCG, eggshells, various other fruit and veggie scraps.

Jody

We trimmed all the butterfly bushes this weekend so my pile got about a trash can full of shreds and about 30 pounds of coffee grounds.

Mine got a banquet today

banana peels
apple cores
grape stems
eggplant peels
stems and seeds from poblano peppers
avocado peels and pits
onion and garlic scraps
carrot tops and bottoms
radish tops and bottoms
(shhh) stale bread
and lots 'o shredded junk mail

Woo hoo, and beautiful warm weather to boot!

Sassy

Bin's getting full. I really need to start a 2nd one. But I was able to squeeze in the following:

pine needle & raffia leftovers from Basketry class (don't laugh, it was quite fun)
some old lettuce that really should have been added much sooner (*holds her nose*)
newspaper, paper towels, old Kleenex, and ripped TP rolls
eggshells
unidentifiable kitchen scraps
1 silver bag UCG from Starbucks

questions: if my pile didn't freeze solid (to my knowledge) over winter, that's a good thing? I live in Cascade Mts and at times snow was deeper than bin, but whenever snow level has been low enough I go out and turn the pile and don't recall running in to "frozen chunks". Does this mean our lil friends are still at work or having a black bin to retain some solar heat is a good thing or. . . .?

btw, these forums are AWESOME!

Welcome to the forum Kate.

Let's see, UCG from Starbucks means you stopped in for them, picking up OPBL, kidnapping worms...yup you fit in all right!

If your compost didn't freeze in a climate where stuff would normally freeze, then I would suspect there is enough microbial activity in the compost keeping it from freezing, and that would be a good thing.

No such luck here, it's -24 C with a windchill of -36 C right now.

Heavy sigh!

Lloyd

OMG Lloyd ----better keep the brass monkeys in for a while ---got up to 81* here ysterday ---shorts---grass cuttin and pile turnin ---sorry ---think of me this summer when its 98* with 100% humidity and you can't breath ---we call it ---oppressive

welcome compostkate ---great name ---i have one i call katie katie pretty lady---

added winter green grass clippings pilfered from the landscaping folks from work ----really full of chlorophyll and should heat up just right ----

love the daylight savings time ----more time to piddle in the yard --JB

I was finally able to crack the frozen shell over the weekend and added all the cr@p/fodder I'd been hoarding in a trash bin so in it all went.
paper plates
shredded news paper
napkins, tissuse
lobster shells
pasta
apple peels
fridge sludge
ect
card board boxes.
taco shells
moldy ricotta
cat puke
and a dead birds wing.
"sigh" I crossed the line

today I added rabbit bedding(very gross).
lots of DH's liquid gold.
"finally convinced him to save it "
"sigh" :) crossed another one. :)
better start steaming soon,
If not I'm almost ready to pour some gas
and light a match
yes I'm impatiant.
good thing I buried the shell fish deep,
some critter was diggin in there.
quit way befor getting to it.

I am so jealous of all you people who don't have frozen composts. This morning it was -21°C (that's about -6°F for those in the US. It warmed up to -7°C which is 19°F but I'm sure will be heading down again. Love winter! :-)

Our compost gets the same old, same old every day (egg shells, coffee grounds, my toast crusts, veggie scraps) but today I also gave it some pickle juice and a couple of pickled garlic, some tissues, and some yogurt whey. It may not like the pickle juice but I figure it'll be so diluted by the melting snow it won't matter.

We've also been collecting UCG big time. We're stockpiling them in the snow, wrapped in tarps. The biggest pile looks to be over 3' tall and 4' around. We're collecting 30 gallons every other day. Should be fun when this snow melts and I can finally see the earth and play with coffee grounds.

hey luckygal.....what are your plans with the ucg's???

i just made contact with my local starbux and they put them outside on the side drive...not the drive thru....makes it very easy to pick up....very nice peeps

is your pile gonna be big enough or do you have other plans for the ucg's...i'm a bit limited on space and my current pile is doing well......sounds like your gonna have lots..

maybe i will get some inspiration from your persperation

R

Yesterday:
avocado peels and pits
banana peels
apple cores
onion and garlic skins
tomato scraps
toilet paper rolls
shredded junk mail liquid gold

Today:
grape stems
banana peels
apple cores
strawberry "tops"
potato peels
lettuce and tomato scraps
plate scrapings
shredded cardboard boxes
shredded junk mail
paper towels
juice from empty pepperocini pepper and jalapeno jars
kleenexes from the girls runny noses AGAIN

Sassy

ruvin, I'm planning to use them to fertilize the lawn, add to the lasagna bed I started last summer which may not be "finished", and to make as much compost as I can as we are enlarging our house yard big-time this year. I know it sounds like a lot and the pile is growing but I don't think I can get too many. We always get free fine wood shavings from a local mill with which I make my own mulch so the coffee grounds will help with that as well.

Scored and dumped a bag of Starbucks coffee grounds, 2 gallon jar of miscellaneous kitchen scraps from my neighbor (she's so nice :) and torn up paper, cardboard, papertowels, kleenex. Nice start for a new pile, I think. Others two finished piles froze again!

hey lucky.....sounds like a plan ...how much sq ftg on the yard??

my pile is on fire with the winter grass clippings cookin in it.....life is good,,,

R

ruvin, the new house yard will probably be under 2 acres but not sure until the snow melts and I can get out there and measure. I know the soil is heavy clay so needs a lot of OM.

This isn't food for my compost but DH got about a dozen free pallets yesterday so I can now have lots more compost bins so won't have piles all over and can get a proper system going. This is gonna be a compostin' year for sure! AND the snow is melting, it's been above freezing for a few days so might be able to get out there in a couple of weeks!

I dumped my compost barrel onto a new bed - it was 1/2 done, and started a new one today - yeah!

cranberry sauce
old black beans
old pineapple bbq sauce from last weeks chik dish
old fruit salad
edamame shells
salad veggie trimmings

60 degrees in NW NJ today - yahoooo! Of course, there'll probably be snow next week.

- Tree

lucky...you go girl.....i wish i had the space and the gumption to do what you are doing .... sounds great

R

I really don't have any active compost piles right now but I am always adding materials to my lasagna bed. Today I added:

-2 tea bags
-left over apple my 2 year old son nibbled on
-lots of potato peels
-3 wheel barrel loads of chopped maple leaves from last fall

With the kitchen scraps I've been throwing on the pile over the past several weeks it is now time to dig all of that stuff in.

Sunday night, mine got a nice fruit salad:

strawberry "tops"
grape stems and mushy grapes
canteloupe rinds (because a rind is a terrible thing to waste)
banana peels
apple cores

and also from the fridge:
slimy cilantro that DS didn't store "properly"
leftover homemade 1000 Island dressing past its prime

and the usual shredded junk mail and liquid gold
plus a week's worth of UTB and Sweet 'n Low pkgs

Sassy

I'm starting new beds, lasagna style mostly, so some things are going there; others in the compost pile. The things today were:

--contents of kitchen compost bucket = many orange peels, lemons after squeezing the juice - and after me eating most of the lemons :), stems of some green thing of unknown identity, pear core, apple cores, banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, onion skins, garlic skins

--bag of grounds from starbucks

--coffee that had been in canister that got dropped & cracked

--rotted plaintain, nicely mushy

--an orange that went bad, very bad

--a grapefruit, ditto

--shredded paper

--brown rice, the bits remaining in the pot after cooking, plus water used to clean the pot

--some rolls and bread, from restaurant bread basket, plus the butter pat

--leftover mashed potato, leftover stuffing, from same restaurant

--some little after-dinner candies, from some other restaurant

--pine-based cat litter and urine

--some weeds! those creeping strawberry-looking things, tossed on top of lasagna beds so roots dry out.

Yesterday:
Uneaten apple pieces and three grandsons helping the compost pile with "nitrogen" baths "hey, Grandma, the paper in there is yellow now". They're good boys!
Today: Neighbor brought over lots of leaves for pile of browns to add slowly. This is good.

Nothing much here today, but some (lots of) tear-soaked shredded paper and lots of tissues. Had a day from h*ll, missing the girls and dealing with the idiots over SSI and disability, and more rain. I should be thankful for all the rain, but geez, a little sunshine would be nice too.

Sassy

Hey Sassy...you miss your girls??...me to ...mine is 7 time zones away and wont be home 'till the end of May..

Bless your heart...

we had 2 days of rain and today its 72 and sunny..

had a turn at the ole pile

its good day as they all really are...

R

A bin, a bin!!!! Today, my overflowing pile got a new bin! I'm soooo excited. Turns out one of the local fruit warehouses (i live in orchard land) GIVES AWAY their old, wooden harvest boxes. I haven't measured it yet, but i'm guessing 5X5X3. All I know is it barely fit in the back of my hubby's truck (that darned camper shell keeps getting in the way lol).

The pile I have currently cooking, well probably more like cooling, is under a ~32 gal black plastic bin. It's basically just a big upside down bucket with a lid on top hehe. But it's full and kitchen scraps were piling up so this find is awesome. I might have to go back again and have moi mas piles cookin this year!

Was so excited I had to share :) I'd be out there fillin the darn thing if it wasn't pouring rain atm. Hubby and I took roadtrip to the big city (Portland/Vancouver) over the weekend and we stopped at every Starbucks we saw. It was obscene how much UCG we came home with. I always feel so guilty about the gas consumption of his beast of a truck so it's kind of an unspoken rule in our house to never come home with an empty truck. At first he thought I was just being a bit of a compost wacko (and PITA), but I think he's starting to realize the dream of a DIY landscaped yard will happen alot sooner now.

hmmm. . . rain's slowed up. . .wonder how much stuff I can mix in the new bin before it turns to snow. . . .dark's not a problem right?. . . i mean i got a headlamp. . .. .

have i mentioned i got my pile a huge new bin?!?!?!?!

I fed mine horse manure {{gwi:270255}}, shredded paper {{gwi:270256}}, vegetable salad (a whole crate) and a fruit salad (spent two hours cutting the fruit so the worms wouldn't have to work so hard {{gwi:270258}}

Today I started filling my new bin!

One large pile of leaves (one of the four pictured inside my fenced leaf corral - these were originally ~55 bags from Fall)

6 clear trash bags Starbucks UCG & 1 lil silver bag

3 gals. co-workers kitchen scraps (blueberries, potatoes, veggie scraps, UCG and some paper towels, banana skins)

5 gal. bucket of compost transferred from original pile that's almost done

5 gal our own kitchen scraps

Layered everything then mixed thoroughly and added the kitchen scraps to the middle. New bin's not even half full lol!

EEK! ummm. . . how do i post a picture in my msg?? /blush

HHHHMMMM...thought I posted yesterday but it disappeared!!? I added about 8 gallons of water...it's been very dry. But rain expected this coming week. Needing it~

Today the new big bin got a wheelbarrow full of fine sawdust mixed in with the leaves/UCG.

The small, black bin of "almost finished" compost got turned.

The cold pile got 1.5 garbage bags of UCG and a few old potatoes. I'm wondering if they'll sprout :)

All of which got added and/or turned just in time too. Not 15mins after I finished, Spring was over and the snow returned.

kale and chard stems, cucumber peel, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, brown lettuce tips, apple cores

This past weekend was all about using the compost, not adding to it. Last year's batch has now been spread on the new garden.

Of course, this means that there's space in the bins again (living in the city, I use garbage can composters), so it will soon be time to refill them again.

The new plan includes: shaken-out sod removed from the new garden bed, Winter kitchen scraps that have been stockpiled outdoors in lidded buckets, a bag full of random yard waste from a very late-season yard cleanup, some old leaves from a friend (we don't really get leaves in our fenced city yard), and possibly some rabbit and/or chicken manure, since I recently found sources for both.

I'm hoping that for once, I'll have enough one-time additions to actually produce some significant heat. Anything's possible, right? :-)

The past few days I have added spoiled fridge contents (aka science experiment), contents from the vaccum cleaner, UCG w/filters, used tea bags, and left over veggie fixins from the bar-b-que burgers we just had. I know crazy to barbaque in 44* and rain.

Hi everyone. I haven't been around in a few weeks, but I have had a good (bad) excuse!

On March 17, I had a heart attack. Had a heart catheterization on March 18, and double bypass surgery on March 19. Pleased to say that I am now back at home and anxious to read and catch up on all that I missed, and say it is good to be back, good to be alive, and ready now to start on a new chapter in a hopefully healthier life:)

Sassy

Glad to hear your doing good Sassy!!!! One day at a time!!! Sort of know the feeling---I found out this past tuesday that I have diabetes and if I don't change alot, will be following your week..........so fed the CP:

all the foods out of the freezer/fridge/cabnets that are no longer foods I should eat.

Sassy, glad to hear you are doing well after your health problems. Keep healthy by eating all those good veggies and the scraps are so good for the compost!

Our compost gets the same stuff every day and I'd bore you all silly if I reported it daily. Some new things tho - I just noticed DH had soaked the paper label off a finished jar of Hellmanns and put it in the compost container! Usually he throws things like that in the garbage can. I was incredulous and will give him an extra hug. You people are such an inspiration to us. The other day I tore up a cardboard Borateem box into little pieces for the compost.

Snow is finally leaving so I hope the compost will be thawed and ready to layer and mess about with soon. The bin is almost filled to the top now.

We are about to undergo a kitchen remodel so I cleaned out the pantry today and started packing stuff in boxes.

The compost pile received many benefits from the pantry clean out: some old flour, old cereal, old oatmeal, rock hard brown sugar...

semi-cleaned the fridge and found: old chocolate cake, spaghetti sauce, unknown science experiment (i think chicken skins DH said he would use to make stock), stinky salad greens.

and the usual dead plant pieces from houseplants, kitchenscraps, and one mouse i found in the trap near where my seedlings are starting in the basement.

but more importantly, NO SNOW.

an "overdue" eggplant

scraps from making spaghetti sauce..onion ends, garlic ends and peels, rinsed out residue from canned tomatoes, celery ends.

coffee grounds

about 6 wheelbarrows full of garden waste...both brown and green. (excess browns are in pile along side compost bin awaiting their turn)

toilet paper and paper towel rolls

paper towels used to clean up after new puppy had "urea nitrogen" accident in house

green onion ends