Food scraps chopped verses in large lumps? Trivial. This is fast rotting, not durable, OM. Of course, your definition of "as quickly as possible" is probably different than mine.

Thanks for the response! I meant, chopped verses blended into a smoothie with my blender and water. OM? And "as quickly as possible" just means that. I don't want to compromise the quality of my compost pit or disrupt the natural process. Is it okay if I blend my fruit and veggie scraps and pour them into my compost bin? It's just less time consuming for me, so it would be a win win if this is a productive method.

Blending is usually not necessary, and may release too much liquid if you use the whole blend, but compost can be adjusted to work. Use what you have, if it doesn't work, change. Don't use anything that isn't natural.

by blending, you will maximize carbon and nitrogen loss. but it will still compost.

Yes, Smaller pieces will decompose quicker but likely leave the compost much too wet and turn it into a slimy mess which may take longer.

Like anything in life, the first time you do something it is much harder.

My suggestion - IF you need compost in two weeks - buy it.

Thanks everyone! And no, I don't expect or hope for my compost to be ready in two weeks. I am just hoping it will be ready by the spring when I plant my new garden, and my vegetable garden. I read it can take years, so I was just hoping I would get results in months instead. I appreciate the responses and I think I have my answer. I will stick to finely chopping my scraps from now on. While on the subject of compost, and since you guys have been so helpful, does anyone have an opinion or knowledge on adding horse manure to compost pits? I have TONS of hay and horse poop at my disposal, but don't know if it's wise to add it directly into the compost. Thoughts? Thanks again!

Lia, re composting your scraps, I wouldn't recommend blending them into a smoothie consistency. Breaking them down to something that fine will not allow enough air into your compost pile. The bacteria in your compost pile needs a sufficient amount of air to work effectively - without that air your pile could turn into a stinky wet mess. If you were to mix some dry brown material like fall leaves into your scrap puree I think you would produce good compost.

As for the horse manure, again mix it with some high carbon stuff like dry leaves or straw. It would be a great addition to you pile and contains loads of bacteria that would improve the composting. Just make sure to allow some air for the microbes and they will do the work for you.

I'm sure there are probably many readers of your posting that would love to have access to unlimited supplies of horse manure like you do! Good luck with it.

Harry

@harry757 thank you so much! That's JUST what I wanted to know! You are the best!

Composting is a process - that takes time to learn and just like anything in life - the first time you do it takes time and/or doesn't come out right. Honestly, to get compost by spring you should have started last summer (to finish before fall).

Having manure to add to the compost mix will be a help but it takes time to learn things. You will need to go thru the full learning curve, make your mistakes and hone your process.

Once you get the process down you can have a steady supply of your own compost but for this coming season I would buy it.

Saying - "IF you need compost in two weeks - buy it." - is just a saying I came up with for people who want compost in a hurry - mainly those who buy those tumblers because the ad says you can get compost in two weeks. The point is you can use anything in place of the 2 weeks esp. when it is your first time. So replace in two weeks with "in a hurry".

fwiw - Spring will be here in 3 weeks so the choice will soon be yours either delay planting or buy your compost this time.

Depending on the blender you could chop or dice your scraps, but I would not puree any.

Manure is a very good addition to the compost pile, in the right ratio. Add manure at about 1 part to 3 parts vegetative waste.

The Rodale Institute developed a method to make compost in 14 days and Pennsylvania State University posted the method on line, but that has been taken down, apparently. Compost, good quality compost, can be made in 14 days but it is a lot of work.

kimmq is kimmsr

How you manage the pile will have more to do with how fast you get compost than how small you chop your kitchen scraps.

Fundamentals: brown/green ratio (C:N), moisture, air. Moisture you can check now and then by digging into the pile. Turning it over a couple times while it's cooking will help break up and mix the materials. As for the air: don't compost in a pit. Composting is supposed to be aerobic so it has to have room to breathe. Make a pile on top of the ground or buy or make a bin.

If you take care of those things, you can throw your kitchen scraps right in, cover them with some of that straw or fall leaves, and you'll never notice a difference.

btw, spring starts officially in 18 days so no compost is going to be ready that rapidly (despite online sources that would lead you to believe otherwse)! And I agree that chopping is better than blending - a food processor would make short work of kitchen scraps but a blender would just make a gooey mess.

Lia, I was thinking a bit more about your blended food scraps and thought, hey have you ever tried worm composting? It's a great way to turn some of your scraps into fantastic worm castings. Would be terrific for your garden or potted plants. Doesn't consume scraps or produce large amounts of material like composting but it's really good for the soil. I have several worm bins and love the castings produced. I do regular composting and am happy with the results but enjoy having both castings and compost to use for gardening. Give it a try if you haven't already.

Harry

P.S Lots of info. on the vermicomposting forum if you're interested.

Rather than blend the greens, shred the browns. Adding carbon in the form of wood shavings or sawdust and shredded newspaper is what speeds my compost up.

You can blend it but if you can spare and get a garbage disposal near the pit, you can do it that way, too.

As an alternative to not having compost ready for gardening for spring in a few weeks, you can try the trench composting method. In this way, you can use fresh materials and the plants will still benefit down the line, later in the growing season.

My idea is similar to what lazy_gardens has mentioned, but one difference is that you just put some stuff near a planting area. That is where the plants grow for this season, using what has broken down in this season. You don't necessarily have to move the spot around a year later.

Thank you SO much lazy_gardens and purslandegarden! I am doing exactly that after reading these posts. Both the trench method, and spreading a layer over the vegetable garden space. Thanks for the helpful advice! I'm excited to see how it turns out!

Doing as you mention liquefying will most likely turn your compost into an anaerobic mess which could prove risky. If you need compost made quickly, have enough material to do it with, try the 18 day Berkeley method http://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/  Horse manures along with cow, chicken etc are fine to use,, just be certain the pile gets a lot of air. I've personally never did the 18 day method, however, keeping with my pile I can have a 27 cubic foot pile finished in 3 weeks.

A big high five to you for your efforts at composting! Your soil is gonna thank you for it. I compost my horse manure 365 days a year, and with 2 horses I have a lot! I use sawdust for bedding so mine takes longer to finish but if you have straw or hay as bedding it will be much faster. Just make layers of the horse bedding with your green kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, grass clippings (if you have any) and whatever else you have. My easy recipe is 1/3 browns, 1/3 greens, 1/3 manure in layers or mixing as you go if you have a tumbler.

The piles in the stables I get my horse manure are always steaming when I dig into them, a sight I love to see