View Full Version : Composting and neighborhood living?
waterbaby
03-23-2007, 12:43 PM
For the record: I know nothing about composting.
My question: can I compost even though I live in a neighborhood with practically no land? (We share a side yard and backyard...it's probably 8 feet wide, but kinda long.)
tempus vernum
03-29-2007, 10:53 PM
I live in the City of Milwaukee and must attend a composting workshop to do it legally - they issue a certificate. As far as space, all you need is a compost bin -minei s bout 2.5 feet in diameter - it's round and black with a cover
Learnin'2B
03-29-2007, 11:18 PM
We have a yard, by the dogs tear into our compost for those nasty goodies that dogs love...
So we keep ours on the side of the house and the area is not that big, maybe only 7 for 8 feet between our house and the neighbor's fence, and their house is just on the other side of the fence. It's a simple ring of 1/2 inch wire fencing, maybe 3 feet in diameter, 4 feet tall. No support poles or anything. Just cut the fencing and connect the ends with ties and set it on end. Our compost is layers of dead leaves, small sticks, vines, weeds, dirt, fruit, vegetables, coffee and tea. It really hardly smells at all. Perhaps that first day when we put the new layer of fruit/veggie leftovers you may get a slight wang in the breeze if you are standing right next to it, but it's nothing like a dumpster smell, if that's what you are wondering. What will cause a bad stink is if something that is not supposed to be in it gets in, which is anything not a plant...mostly. My dh will rinse an egg shell and put it in there b/c the shell is okay, but the egg is not. Cheese is not.
Before I started composting I thought it would stink. So...this is just me...maybe you could just set one up and start it with some leaves and dirt, and be sure you cover your scraps with leaves....and see if your neighbors say anything. They may be surprised it doesn't stink just like I was. :shrug Or you could talk to them about it first, but sometimes it just hard to convince someone when they automatically associate a dumpster smell with compost scraps. It's really not the same.
As for city codes, you probably want to check into it to be sure you aren't violating something first, or if they have any specific requirements.
tempus vernum
03-30-2007, 12:20 AM
And I forgot to add - according to the law it must be in a covered container.
MotherSong
03-30-2007, 03:59 AM
We compost in a residential neighborhood with houses / neighbors nearby.
When it gets stinky it's time to stir the compost more often. Not hard to do--just have to make ourselves remember to do it.
We don't put any meat, animal products, oil, dairy product, etc. into our compost.
I took a free class offered by the Agricultural Extension office. They even gave us a free bin, books, etc. The public library had a few great books, too.
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