I love my dump

[Mini Horses]

Yeah, our dump won't let you remove anything either! Sometimes people with leave good, reusable items in front of the dumpster, not in it...with a note and they will usually let you get out with that, if wanted -- like dog house, sand box, etc. We have a section for "metal" where old appliances, fence, grills, etc. are ut.

A couple dump sites will let people take things from what isn't in the dumpster...paint, tires, bikes, etc. Some dare you!

I am friends with the "mgr" at my close site and a couple of the day workers. They will turn their head if I want somethings but, truly we don't get a bunch of good stuff. With the policies at the dump, many will leave things by the road with a FREE sign on it.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I saw folks loading a huge barrel style composter from one vehicle to an other yesterday. It looked like it was in very good condition, if not a little sun bleached. It was one of the high end models. They put it on top of a car. Bet it spun well on the way home!

 

[Britesea]

kind of sad that someone spent that kind of money and then didn't use it

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Went to Lowe's yesterday, came home with 1 G of Thompson's oil based weather shield/stain. BUT, the real bonus was 1 G of deep penetrating oil based stain (for interior use) on the "oops!" shelf which was being sold for $1.24.

Then, Bruce (on @Beekissed ) forum dropped a comment about charring wood. Thanks, Bruce and Bee for the info you shared!!!

Which led me on a bunny trail about Shou Sugi Ban. An ancient Japanese wood preservation method. So... I plan to first do SSB, followed by an oil treatment of these 2 x 8's before turning them into raised beds. That should preserve the life of the wood far more than simply staining it!

http://easternwhitepine.org/shou-sugi-ban-japanese-technique-makes-pine-wood-waterproof-with-fire/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=d9on3ZUVRyI

 

[Nifty]

Hey FYI: we've added this to our featured items on the Homepage!

 

[baymule]

You have a gold mine, not a dump! I wish we could go through the dump here, but it's a no-go.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I am truly blessed.
*There is a 2 bay garage where people drop off clothing, books, furniture, and other household items to be recycled.
*Often, windows and doors, as well as other recyclable building materials are placed beside the demolition dumpster, instead of being thrown in. I've even seen rolls of electrical wire placed there.
*Then, the burn pile... often brand new boards, as well as lightly used lumber. There are signs posted that dump picking is not allowed. But, the employees look the other way. I've never been reprimanded for my brazen "picking". Of course, I exercise safety, and wouldn't cross the fence to pick OUT OF the demo dumpster. But, have used a rake to retrieve something from the top before!
*The compost area is an absolute gold mine!

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

I am truly blessed.
*There is a 2 bay garage where people drop off clothing, books, furniture, and other household items to be recycled.
*Often, windows and doors, as well as other recyclable building materials are placed beside the demolition dumpster, instead of being thrown in. I've even seen rolls of electrical wire placed there.
*Then, the burn pile... often brand new boards, as well as lightly used lumber. There are signs posted that dump picking is not allowed. But, the employees look the other way. I've never been reprimanded for my brazen "picking". Of course, I exercise safety, and wouldn't cross the fence to pick OUT OF the demo dumpster. But, have used a rake to retrieve something from the top before!
*The compost area is an absolute gold mine!

How often you should turn compost? is it about the size of the pile, green to brown ratio and amount of moisture in the pile?

 

[wyoDreamer]

@YourRabbitGirl
I turn my compost pile whenever I remember, lol. My compost tumbler was turned every day as I added more scraps to it. Once it was full, I turned it every other day for a couple of weeks, adding water every time I turned it. When it was done composting, I would dump it into the wheel barrow and start over.
The more you turn it, the more oxygen and the faster it will break down. As you turn it, you can also check the moisture content and make sure it is decomposing well. My guess would be turning it 2 times a week would be optimal - no more than once a day or it dries out too fast.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

The compost pile at the town dump is not turned. I drove around the leaf pile today, just to check it out. It's about 10' tall, and about 40' diameter. It rots down pretty well. The only turning it gets is if they move the current pile of new leaves out of the center of the parking lot to make room for a new pile.

I don't turn my home compost, either. In the winter months, compost materials:

Get piled in the garden

or... Get piled in a pallet bin

or... gets dumped into the tumbler. I usually don't turn the tumbler b/c the winter time additions freeze into a solid block. It's just a holding area until spring weather arrives. By then, it can be pretty anaerobic. But, when I open it up and add that material to some browns, it breaks down quickly.

or... get fed to my worm bucket.

Mostly, I rely on the chickens to make my compost: deep litter in coop and run. I've been tossing dry or sprouted grains in the litter to encourage them to churn it up. And, if they don't churn enough to cover their night time additions, I keep a garden fork handy to toss some litter over it. This does a nice job keeping the poo from forming a iced poo cap under the perches.

In the summer, I sheet compost, or trench compost.