r/composting • u/In_My_Humble_Scroll • Apr 24 '26
Cold/Slow Compost 1 Month into my first compost…
Using a Geobin and building up the material still! My question is… do you all compost food content as well? To be specific, like if you for instance compost an apple or orange peel, do you remove anything left of the actual fruit before doing so?
I have because of animals but it feels tedious. Do you all do this as well?
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u/bubblechog Apr 24 '26 edited May 20 '26
We have a food waste collection by the local council so cooked food, bones, oil, meat scraps etc go in the caddy to be picked up kerbside.
Peelings, vegetable ends, egg shells, coffee grounds, teabags, apple cores, fruit i forgot about until it almost disintegrated- basically anything raw and organic goes in the compost bin.
I do nothing to the compost bin stuff because it all decomposes and is not going to attract anything even more than the actual core or rind.
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u/Daggoofiesta Apr 24 '26
Add all food scraps that aren’t meat, seafood, dairy, lard, or bones. So add fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc.
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u/Loud_Permission9265 Apr 24 '26
I have 50 gallon trash cans drilled full of holes for aeration but I wrapped the whole bins in hardware cloth to avoid rats and mice getting in. I throw everything in, including meats, dairy and fruits
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u/Sunnytoaist Apr 24 '26
Are geobins metal? If so just bury the food in the middle of the browns and seal the lid.
If the compost is in a fairly open space and if rodents can’t get in they will stop visiting as predators will start to learn that they are hanging out around that area
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u/In_My_Humble_Scroll Apr 24 '26
They’re a plastic.
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u/Sunnytoaist Apr 24 '26
Oh nvm then rodents and critters can chew through that.
I compost everything that’s not dairy, or meat. Once it gets going thing will break down pretty fast but I always see squirrels around my box when I add fresh scraps. I’ve also seen a snake who I think was attracted to the smaller rodents
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u/triple_cloudy Apr 24 '26
Yes, food is an excellent addition to compost. A lot of times you'll hear about "food scraps and peels" because that's what will usually go in there. But if you have fruit and vegetables that are overripe or got dirty somehow, the compost is the perfect destination for them.
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u/In_My_Humble_Scroll Apr 24 '26
Good to know! Thanks. Again, just worried about animals. Maybe I’ll try to bury those in the middle too and see what happens.
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u/phosphorus-strait Apr 24 '26
Fruits and vegetables rarely attract pests. They don't need to raid your bin to eat raw plant matter. If you steer clear of meat, bones, fat, and EXCESSIVE grains, you probably won't attract any unwanted guests.
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u/ThomasFromOhio Apr 25 '26
One thing I tried last season was in bed worm/soil organizm feeders. Basically a large yogurt container with the bottom cut off, large holes drilled in the side, and the lid. Dig a large hole in the bed and place the worm feeder in the hole so it's level with the ground. Backfill the container. Fill the container with basically food scraps from the kitchen. Put lid on. Result? Little to nothing. LOL. So I thought. Drought came and I gave up again on the garden. Early season I started cleaning out the beds and I remembered the feeders. They had lifted out of the ground due to freezing. I looked in the holes and could easily tell there was good amendment in the bottom. Looked a lot like worm poop, but I know that worms will poop as they travel in the soil. Still made me want to try the system again. I make veggie broth with left over scraps and after I use those scraps for the veggie broth I put the left over scraps in the feeders. I haven't checked on them in the week that they've been in the ground, so next time I'm out I'll take a peak.
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u/Both_Engineering9041 Apr 25 '26
The occasional animal bone (chicken, lamb etc) I have I put in to a local hedgerow where I know foxes live. Other than that animal skin and bread gets put on the bird table and everything else goes in the compost bin. Have not put anything out for kerbside collection for years.
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u/JelmerMcGee Apr 24 '26
It all goes in. For food waste, I dig into the middle of the pile and put it in there.