Life Musings

My compost pile is turning out quite nicely. I wish that it would go faster, but heck, I'm new at this sort of thing. I kinda wish I had one of those rotating drum composters, but they cost too much and I'm trying to watch my expenses.

I dump a variety of things in there, but here are some typical examples:

- Used coffee grounds. I can get them for free from Starbucks.
- Used coffee filters. These things don't decompose as quickly as I had been led to believe, though. That's annoying, especially since Starbucks mixes a lot of filters into their waste bags.
- Used tea bags. I try to cut the bags up though, to help the leaves mix with the pile.
- Shredded paper. I wonder how quickly this stuff decomposes, though.
- Canteloupe rinds. Boy, I don't even see a single trace of this stuff in the pile! It must decompose pretty quickly.
- Papaya rinds. Ditto.
- I suspect that honeydew melon rinds don't decompose as quickly, but I haven't seen any trace of them either.
- Mango peels. Also, bits of apple and pear cores (without the seeds).
- More recently, I've used some straw that came with an order of corn gluten that I received. The straw made for an organic substitute for styrofoam peanuts.