Does a compost bin have to be contained to keep all the nutrients in it.?
Question:If you just plop it on the ground wont you lose all the nutrients that you want to keep in the soil to add to your garden?? what type of food is okay to put in it besides veggies and fruit and eggs.
Answers:
No it doesn't have to be enclosed. In fact it needs air in order to break down and not overheat. You can put anything green in your compost, in addition you can put in egg shells, coffee grounds, bones from meats such as chicken, but no meat, that would just stink!
If it is exposed on the ground, yes you will loose some nutrients...you can always put a tarp or some type of liner below if your worried...i actually have my compost in a rubbermaid bin that i drilled holes in...obviously its smaller but it is all contained in the bin...
No, it does not have to be contained. You may get a hotter pile if it is contained, which means it will decompose faster.
You can put any type of food in it except meat, dairy and high-fat foods (like peanut butter) as these will attract pests. Egg shells should be crushed.
Here is an excellent guide. http://www.compostguide.com/
I find compost work better if left on soil. You can put all your organic scraps into the compost, just steer clear of dairy and meat as they attract flies and vermin. Organic scraps can be newspaper (shredded) vacuum leaner dust, and all your fruit and veggie scraps, hair, straw etc .
good luck
There will be no nutrients in this mixture if you do not put it in a compost bin, you have to add things such as potatoe peelings vegetable stalks, fish emulsion egg shells, etc, you can find books that list all the ingredients to add or go online and search in a search engine like ask (aka: askjeeves
Ideally it should be contained because the temperature of the compost must hit a certain temperature to break down. I can't remember exactly what the temperature is . . . but you can look it up online. The heat also will kill any unwanted bacteria, disease, and weeds that you won't want to add to your garden. I purchased two rubbermaid garbage cans, cut 3 square holes in the bottom and sides, and buried them about half way in the ground. All of the cut holes are below ground so they attract worms, but no vermon. The garbage cans are nice too because the lids seal nicely. Having two containers side by side alows me to rotate the compost too . . . which is VERY important. You have to turn your compost every few days. That also means I have one container with ready-to-use compost, and one that's still decomposing. Coffee grounds, grass clippings, vegetable scraps, ashes from a campfire, chicken manure, are all good things to add to compost. I don't like to add bones or anything hard, because I end up taking them out when I mix it in my garden. Good luck and good gardening !
No fruit, no eggs! That makes in a birthing room for flies. No meat either.
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