Guides & How Tos - Durt.org

Bear Proof Composting: Is it Possible?

Composting in bear country is a unique experience. The possibility that you might go out one morning and find your compost tumbler torn open like a tin can is not an enjoyable one. An even less enjoyable prospect in would be to find a bear mid-rummage through your tumbler or pile when you’re headed out to it with a bucket of food scraps. While there’s not an easy solution, there are several things you can do to make you compost a bit more bear-proof. Or …

Can You Compost Chicken Bones? (Yes, here’s how…)

When I first got into composting I wanted to throw everything I could find into our tumbler…and I did. I kept our “compost” moist, turned it regularly, and even put in a compost accelerator. It was about that time that I learned that just because something is “food-waste” and came out of my kitchen doesn’t mean it can be composted. Obviously. After my poorly thought out experiences (and a bunch of time sifting out the uncompostable stuff from our tumbler) I decided that, before adding …

How to Make Anaerobic Compost Tea for Explosive Growth

When I first married my wife, I was very disappointed by her great love for tea. And we’re even not talking about Green Tea or oolong. We’re not even talking about compost tea yet. We’re talking about herbal teas. Weedy-plant-water meant for humans. It didn’t sit well with me. If I drank something, I wanted it to either taste great or be ultra-caffeinated. Herbal tea was neither of those things. It wasn’t until I matured a little bit that I realized how many useful things …

Dealing with maggots in your compost: Are they good or bad?

Maggots are disgusting. They exist in the filthiest places, feast on dead and rotting flesh (mostly corpses), and carry disease and death everywhere they go. At least that’s the view that every city-dwelling American seems to have. In many cultures maggots are far from something to be disgusted by. In fact, many places have survived on maggots and similar grubs for thousands of years. As a food production source, maggots are unparalled. In a single year, an acre of maggots can turn a pile of …

Topsoil vs. Compost: Can I use either one?

I’ve seen so many people arguing about which is better for their garden: topsoil or compost. The level of misunderstanding in this “fake argument” has gotten old. It makes me want to take my compost bin, upend it over the heads of the people arguing, and yell, “does that small like topsoil to you!?” Except I guess my compost does smell like topsoil…it’s great to compost. Similar smell aside, compost and topsoil are completely different animals. So let’s dive into this issue and address a …

Composting Grass: 4 Easy Ways to Handle Your Clippings

Did you know that grass clippings make up nearly 20% of the solid waste that collected in communities? And that’s a year round average, not just the summer months. In fact, during summer months the grass clippings of some communities can make up a staggering 50% of collected waste! Now, grass is obviously far more environmentally friendly than plastics (12.8% of garbage) glass (4.5%) or metals (9.1) but it still means that millions and millions of pounds of something that could easily be composted and …

The 3 Best Places to Put Your Compost Pile, Bin, or Tumbler

When I first decided to start composting I had a lot of problems to solve…or at least I thought I did. One of the major ones that had kept me from starting before was a location for my pile. Deciding where to start your compost pile is no small task. In fact, for many people, deciding on a composting location is such a hurdle that they never really get started! We had just moved into a small house that we were going to be renting …