Emilie McVey wrote:Don't know if this question is in the correct thread, but...
I have a compost pile, of sorts, in the back of my yard. Originally I dumped all my veggie scraps on it, for about four years, as well as dead/dying plants and twigs I picked up. It never really looked like the rich, developed compost I've seen pictures of, and I can't say it really helped my garden beds.
Now, during the warm months, I toss my food scraps into covered five gallon buckets, and after it's full and has marinated a few weeks, I get DH to dig a hole and pour it in. Lots of stinky liquid, chunks of carrots, orange peels, apple cores, etc. (I used to run the marinated scraps thru an old food processor so it would break down faster, but it was a time-consuming and very smelly process, so I gave it up.) Do you all think burying that gross stuff, as my family calls it, is actually doing my gardens good, or are the big pieces of peppers, potatoes, lettuce, apple cores, etc. taking so long to break down that it's not enriching the beds all that much?