Location of compost bins

[tree_hugger]

Should they go in the sun or the shade?

I'm pretty limited on where I can locate them because if they are too near to a fence my chickens will jump on them and then over the fence.

I know the compost needs to create heat, but also not dry out. I am really intimidated by composting!

Thanks if you can help. :)

[Macky]

Ideal location will depend on a whole lot of factors and you have to decide which are most important to you!

It has to be convenient. If most of your compost ingredients are coming from your kitchen, locate it closer to the house. If most of your ingredients come from garden refuse (leaves, old plants, grass clippings), then locate it closer to your garden. If it's inconvenient, some people don't bother after the initial excitement of having one wears off. If you don't add to it, it doesn't much matter if it's in the sun or shade. ;)

Do you want to run a hot or cold compost pile? Both give you great compost in the end, but hot is faster (and kills weed seeds and pathogens).

If you're running a hot pile in a hot climate, you can locate it in the shade because you're primary problem will be keeping it wet. If you're in a moderate climate like me, it's better to run hot piles in the sun. On hot days, you'll have to water it almost daily, but it's only super hot here for a short amount of time compared to the southern US.

If you're running a cold pile, it doesn't much matter. Everything eventually decays. Decomposition generates its own heat. The sun just helps a bit... it's not the driving source of the heat and it doesn't (in and of itself) cause the composting process.

Keeping steady moisture, but not too much, is the hardest part. Locate the pile in whatever spot will make it easiest to achieve wrung-out-sponge levels as much as possible.

Don't be intimidated! :) The worst you can do is over-complicate it. Mix equal parts brown and green and keep it damp and you'll be really surprised how easily it heats up (shove your hand in the middle over the next few days, but be careful).

[canadiyank]

I say sun, but you need to make sure it's moist. Most of the time adding kitchen scraps keeps mine moist enough but some types of composters need more moisture added. I live in a hot climate.

[tree_hugger]

I'm not sure what kind of climate I live in. :O Its HOT in summer but raining and cold in winter. Temperate?

Most of the stuff I need to break down is chicken manure. I think I will struggle with getting enough carbon in the there. :think

[Macky]

I should have clarified that I was talking about neatly stacked, open piles or ones with mesh sides. I forget that most people use bins (thank you, Meghan). Yes, you should put the bin in the sun if possible. :)

Put the bedding in with the manure. Straw and woodchips count as browns. You want somewhere between a 1:1 and 2:1 ratio between browns (bedding) and the greens (manure).

If you spread out your lawn clippings and let them dry thoroughly, they can be used as browns. Many people rake leaves in the fall and bag them for use throughout the year as needed in the compost bin. We use primarily dry grass clippings, sawdust, leaves and straw if the pile is getting dense and I need an airy layer. Also, if I find I'm layering too much grass, I'll sub straw in every other layer. You can get leaves and clipping from your neighbours if your lawn isn't very big. :) DH set up a composting bucket at work and brings home lots of goodies.

[canadiyank]

I pretty much put all my cardboard in, too, for browns.

I have a compost tumbler, a black plastic bin, and a mesh-sided open bin. The latter is a poor choice for this climate b/c it dries out too quickly and I can't seem to keep it wet enough. I put stuff in there that will take awhile to break down b/c it does eventually it just takes awhile. I have no grass clippings anymore as we have a mulching mower. At our last house I was over run with clippings, even three bins couldn't keep up with it, plus I used them for mulch on my garden beds...hence the purchase of the mulching mower.

[Macky]

We've got a mower that mulches, but it doesn't do a really good job. If we mulch every cutting, it builds up. It doesn't chop it small enough that it falls down where it's supposed to; it all sits on top (and annoys DH). I've gotten away with mulching every other time I mow, but he gets wise to me once in a while. ;) I dunno... there are lots of times when we get behind and I have to side discharge, so we have multipurpose blades. Maybe if we bought the dedicated mulching blades it would work better? It would suck to have to change the blades when we get behind, though (it's a riding mower because we're rural).

About the bins vs open/mesh... yeah, we're dealing with VERY different climates. No matter how hot it gets during the day, it ALWAYS cools off at night here. Thus, I don't have issues keeping it moist (we get free water from the neighbours' dugout to boot :rockon). Then we're dealing with ridiculously long winters where it can get to 40 below on the thermometer plus winchill to push it even lower. While the cold itself actually continues to break down vegetation, it doesn't "compost" in the sense of soil bacteria and worms, etc. working on that breakdown during the deep cold.

The OP needed more info for us to answer properly. ;) Common issue on the gardening board.