My husband and I recently bought one of those compost bins you can rotate that turns the compost. We thought this would be a good option for a two person house and would contain most of the smell that we've been told about. This also prevents our dog from romping in a compost pile.
My husband and father-in-law (thank you Howard!) started putting it together on a Saturday afternoon and a few hours later we had a compost bin!
So, back to my comment about the smell. I guess I should clarify - I hate the smell of my compost. According to some of the books and websites I've been reading, compost should have a "pleasant earthy smell." Mine smells nothing like that! The smell is hard to explain. It doesn't have the ammonia smell that "Let it Rot" mentions. It just smells like rotting food. I did turn it yesterday to try to introduce more oxygen so maybe that will make it smell more "earthy."
Of course I haven't finished reading any of the books I got from the library on the subject. Apparently, composting is not an exact science and more of an art. This does not bode well for me because I'm a very process oriented person and don't have a creative bone in my body. I suspect composting will be one of those things I'll just have to learn about through trial and error...
I'll be interested to see how this works for you. The compost pile in the back corner of my lot does not encourage frequent deposits (b/c of proximity) or frequent turning (b/c it's too much work). The compost bin seems to resolve both of these issues. Good luck making your black gold. Keep us posted.
ReplyDelete