Trench composting

[BestoFour]

This winter I'm going to try trench composting. Started today as a matter of fact. The garden area has been turned over for a couple of weeks and we tillered in some leaves and cut grass. Today I took stuff I've been saving from the kitchen and emptied our paper shredder, dug a trench and buried it. I'm gonna keep this up until the ground freezes too hard to dig a trench.

[Pharmer Phil]

Nov 14, 2012 14:54:16 GMT -6 BestoFour said:

This winter I'm going to try trench composting. Started today as a matter of fact. The garden area has been turned over for a couple of weeks and we tillered in some leaves and cut grass. Today I took stuff I've been saving from the kitchen and emptied our paper shredder, dug a trench and buried it. I'm gonna keep this up until the ground freezes too hard to dig a trench.

it's been many years, but we used to trench compost in a sandy soil type of garden...it worked very well and helped maintain some moisture the following season

[w8in4dave]

Well looks like you have a plan!! Good deal!! Let us know how it does... question could you dig a shallow trench b4 it gets real cold and use that during the cold months? Or does it have to be covered after you put stuff in it?

[mogarden]

I used to dig a couple trenches in the fall. As I put stuff in during winter, I'd cover it up with the mounded soil which usually thawed first anyway.

[jerseycub]

bestofor: You could get the same effect if you till in the unfinished compost at say 4" of compost and then till it under. That's if you have the area and equipment. I do this in the fall and again in the spring with more finished compost to improve areas of the field that look a bit poor. If you have access to Horse manure, that would work very well with your compost material.

[BestoFour]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to cover it as I go to keep animals and birds from carrying away kitchen scraps and the wind from blowing away paper products. I think I will dig trenches now so I can fill in all winter. I saw lots of worms when digging the other day so that's a good sign. I think we're going to build raised beds for the squash from now on. We've gardened here for 12 years and never had a problem with squash bugs until 2 years ago. This pass summer was terrible no matter what I did. Got a little off topic there.

[trudy]

A garden friend of mine has been doing this for years, sometimes just bury a handful of stuff at a time. It all adds up over time. She now has really good soil.

[w8in4dave]

Wow I just pitch stuff out in the garden , I don't pile it, I don't put it in the compost barrel, I just pitch it in there ... it is just scattered out there .... hubbs used to make a "pile" but it would be a pain to spread , We have a compost bin but that is just too much science for me .. So I just throw my goodies out there ......

[BestoFour]

Do you have a problem with rodents or scavengers hanging around your garden? That sort of worries me around here. We don't have a problem with creatures now and I sure don't want to encourage that. Do you just tiller it in when it's time to plant? I've always had a compost pile but it's a pain to turn and a pain to haul sometimes. I'm taking the easy way out this year.

trudy, that's good to know. Hope it works for me.

[w8in4dave]

No we really don't have a problem with critters, we get raccoons once in a while but they are more about the cats food not the rotted veggies in the garden, hubbs puts a live trap out when corn is about done, because they can wipe our lil corn crop in a night!! Hubbs has a big rottovator on the back of the tractor, it tills the whole thing in about 5 mins ...... So yes we just till it in.. To tell you the truth I don't really have alot of scraps anyway....We eat the peels of the taters ... so it is usually ends and pieces of stuff ....I really try to use as much as possible I say what ever works best 4 you

[BestoFour]

Thanks guys. We'll see how it works.