Does anyone know about compost?

[Der Cute]

I'm trying to compost my food waste and make some good soil for later use, in spring. Well, right now it's sopping wet with bout 4 inches of water in the box.
I'm using an old plastic tote box (the kind you get your store shipments in, the 2 flap tops). When I started this box back in August-ish, I tossed old soil in it, as much food waste as I could, eggshells, everything EXCEPT meat.
Since I live in Seattle, one of our main things here is rain. I accidentally left the flaps open and now the box has 4 inches of black water. This thing smells like wet plain garbage, not as earthy as I expect.
I'm adding a lot of shredded paper, as much as I can. I have now covered the box (over the top) with black garbage bag for heat. It's still ventilated, trying to keep the water out of it.
Anything else I can do for it? Is it SUPPOSED to smell like wet garbage?

[Shpepper]

It does sort of smell like wet garbage. If there is a way to do it, you may want to put some drain holes in the box to let some of the moisture out. When I did compost,l I used a slatted wood bin in my yard. There was air flow and water drainage space. it made the best dirt I have ever used. I was out on the Olympic Peninsula in P.T. when I did this. So I am pretty sure it will work for Seattle too. So, drainage holes, air flow and keep it covered from the loverly liquid sunshine we have here.

[dalesys]

Add 1/4 well sucktomer.

[Der Cute]

Water/holes in the bottom. I'm scared everything will wash through (all the good stuff!) Maybe nail holes? Give me a high five though, I'm cutting a lot of stuff up to smaller parts, and every time I see worms coming out from other areas of dirt, they get volunteered to live in the compost box .

I'll find a way to get holes in the bottom of the box. Should I elevate the thing off the ground?. The top is covered with a black bag (for heat, hope it works), flaps are a wee bit open, and rocks are holding the bag down. I'm so high tech doing this, lol.
Thanks for the tips!

[AccountingDrone]

try here - a friend of mine at our local co-op swears by these guys.
http://howtocompost.org/

[dendawg]

Water/holes in the bottom. I'm scared everything will wash through (all the good stuff!) Maybe nail holes?

Some fine mesh on the bottom of the inside, such as the kind that goes on screen doors, should prevent any dirt from coming out through the holes.

[Pixilated]

dendawg got there first ...

I tried composting in a plastic bin myself years ago and the results were pretty gross. That's how I learned drainage is a major component of composting.

It probably wouldn't hurt to elevate it, if you can -- can you find bricks, flat rocks, anything like that to set it on? The black bag on top is a good idea, although many many years ago I had a compost heap that was basically open to the elements -- surrounded by nothing more than chicken wire -- and it worked OK. I think the only difference is that it slows down 'composting' considerably in cold weather.

First time I went to 'donate' to the compost here at Mom's house, I noticed somebody had tossed -- wait for it -- Kraft Dinner into the composter ... Not a lot of it, thank goodness, but ...

[ArcticChicken]

Every compost bin I've ever encountered has had some kind of drainage/air circulation. You also wanna make sure you put dry stuff in there, too. I don't know about paper, but straw is good, leaves are fantastic, and compost really loves coffee grounds. My bf's mom has an arrangement with a local coffee place where she takes some of their coffee grounds away and puts them in her compost.

[Shpepper]

I was going to suggest the fine mesh screening to cover the holes, adding leaves, straw, grass or other semi dry materials and You do live in the land of Coffee... Check with the local baristas and ask if you can pick up coffee grounds. You do not need to do it on a regular basis, but a lot of the indy shops will keep a bucket or two of grounds for people to grab for composting. Also, check craigslist for either an old pallet if you have space for it, or a couple bricks to put under the bottom of the bin. No sense in paying for something if you can get it free.

[sms001]

And don't forget to mix it occasionally!

[protege]

When I was in college, one of the labs made their own compost. IIRC, the container was some sort of plastic barrel. They'd mounted the thing on a horizontal rod, with a handle on one end. Cut into both sides, were access hatches...and lots of holes. Mesh was installed to keep the soil from coming out. Every so often, they'd rotate the thing so everything rotted 'evenly.'

[Der Cute]

Oh yeah, it gets stirred. So the tasks now are to get a pallet/part of one. Elevate Le Box. Make sure there's some holes in the bottom of it (I do try to keep the flaps open, under the black bag.)

I added a bunch of shredded paper and that soaked a lot of the water up, and I'll try to add more paper soon. I will say it's pure black gunk though! That makes me think it's healthy gunk. Okeydokey!

[MoonCat]

Oh yeah, it gets stirred. So the tasks now are to get a pallet/part of one. Elevate Le Box. Make sure there's some holes in the bottom of it (I do try to keep the flaps open, under the black bag.)

I added a bunch of shredded paper and that soaked a lot of the water up, and I'll try to add more paper soon. I will say it's pure black gunk though! That makes me think it's healthy gunk. Okeydokey!

Good compost will smell like clean soil, that lovely earthy smell you get when you dig into the ground to plant something.

[Der Cute]

Update on my compost project:
I dumped more veggie stuff in it today, and it is really starting to smell earthy. At least earthier than it was when I posted. I added a lot more shredded brown paper bags a week ago, and those are already starting to break down. Today was minced dead veggies not good for food use. Opening the top, it smelled pretty good earth wise. Put the veggie stuff in, mixed it up, and it smells a LOT like poop. Earthy poop, kind of like horse or cow manure? Don't know another way to explain that. The black bag is still on the top, sides are ventilated as well as possible, and I hope this redneck contraption works. Next year it'll be a better setup, this was spur of the moment let's see if it works. I was also thinking hmm get a cheap blender and process/break down some of the food I put in there making it easier for the anerobic bacteria/worms to do the job. Smoothie for compost, anyone?
Of course, the weeds are coming out already. Fuckers.

[PepperElf]

i've never done this myself - closest we had was a pile of lawn cuttings in the back "wood" area.


however don't forget to check it for heat. IIRC they do get hot when they start breaking down - that's where stirring it comes in handy too IIRC.

they had some experiments at my last college - specialized compost bins for some of the science classes I think. might have had a rotating part built in for hand cranking.