Tips on getting started here? This is my parent’s garage and I’m only used to city composting in a bin that gets picked up weekly.
Pine trees with loads of pine needles in the ground. Should I build/buy some sort of wooden container for compost? Or dig a hole each summer? Or just make a pile? Will I need to turn it?
I would definitely just rake into a pile. Turn it every once in a while. You’ve got all the right stuff there for some great soil, looks like it could be blueberry haven. I would only build something if you start to get into it. A pile is just as good as anything else. If you wanna do food scraps with a pile you’ll just wanna turn the pile more often to avoid pests.
socalquestioner
Pine needles take forever to break down, but can be great to help with growing blueberries.
You can lasagna pine needles and other leaves, scraps, coffee grounds and that will help speed up the process.
If you have a wood chipper, running them through a wood chipper before making your compost lasagna can speed it up a lot.
I would make a fire pit and a compost pile: put leaves and food scraps and coffee grounds from a coffee shop into a pile. Burn the pine needles and add the ash/char to the compost pile.
Depending on the geographic location and soil type, I would dig a hole under the compost pile and fill the hole with compost to allow the compost to also host worms easily and they can start spreading down and laterally.
socalquestioner
Pine needles take a long time to break down.
AroostookGeorge
Start simple. You could rake it into a pile, off to the side. What you have is a lot of “browns”, which are carbon-rich. An easy add is lawn clippings, which are “greens”, meaning nitrogen-rich. Alternate layering the greens and browns. You don’t want the pile to be too dry or too wet; if needed, give it a spraying with a water hose. Turning the pile isn’t a must, it merely speeds up the process. I have a small bin for kitchen food waste, fruit and vegetable skins and cores, coffee grounds, etc, and when I dump it once or twice a week, I turn the pile.
SaltNo3123
I run pine straw over with lawn mower with a bagger. Once bags full I dump and run over them again, sometimes 3 times and then the are half inch or less on material.
5 Comments
I would definitely just rake into a pile. Turn it every once in a while. You’ve got all the right stuff there for some great soil, looks like it could be blueberry haven. I would only build something if you start to get into it. A pile is just as good as anything else. If you wanna do food scraps with a pile you’ll just wanna turn the pile more often to avoid pests.
Pine needles take forever to break down, but can be great to help with growing blueberries.
You can lasagna pine needles and other leaves, scraps, coffee grounds and that will help speed up the process.
If you have a wood chipper, running them through a wood chipper before making your compost lasagna can speed it up a lot.
I would make a fire pit and a compost pile: put leaves and food scraps and coffee grounds from a coffee shop into a pile. Burn the pine needles and add the ash/char to the compost pile.
Depending on the geographic location and soil type, I would dig a hole under the compost pile and fill the hole with compost to allow the compost to also host worms easily and they can start spreading down and laterally.
Pine needles take a long time to break down.
Start simple. You could rake it into a pile, off to the side. What you have is a lot of “browns”, which are carbon-rich. An easy add is lawn clippings, which are “greens”, meaning nitrogen-rich. Alternate layering the greens and browns. You don’t want the pile to be too dry or too wet; if needed, give it a spraying with a water hose. Turning the pile isn’t a must, it merely speeds up the process. I have a small bin for kitchen food waste, fruit and vegetable skins and cores, coffee grounds, etc, and when I dump it once or twice a week, I turn the pile.
I run pine straw over with lawn mower with a bagger. Once bags full I dump and run over them again, sometimes 3 times and then the are half inch or less on material.