Gardening and Horticulture - Compost bin

:cool: I need help making a compost bin. The only composting material I really have is grass. I have a 2 acre lawn that I have to mow so making a compost bin for all those grass clippings seems to be a good idea. I also have some leaves that I can add to it in fall and perhaps some in early spring so the majority of it will be grass clippings. In my horse pasture I am going to just make an enclosed area where I dump it and let it rot. I plan on using the compost on my grass by adding about 1/2" every year or two. Questions are what do you think about this, what is the best way to maintain this pile easily (not alot of work) and what is the best way to use it. Thank you.

Making it out of mostly grass clippings won't be ideal. A good pile has a mix of browns and greens. Browns(carbons) being dead leaves, paper, straw, etc. Greens(nitrogens) being grass clippings, manure, kitchen scraps, etc. If you've ever noticed how rancid a pile of grass clippings smells after a week or two you'll understand. Otherwise your plan sounds reasonable.

Composting is more difficult than it would appear initially. If you're serious, I would suggest trying to learn some more about the subject first.

Fresh grass clipping should not be put into compost. Let them dry out first. You may find the following link helpful: http://journeytoforever.org/compost.html

There is much info available online about composting.

Fresh grass clippings are great to jump start a slowing compost pile. Not putting them in fresh wastes a valuable source of nitrogen for the pile.

Most composters recommend dry clippings. Large amounts of green clippings tend to turn into a gooey mess and create odor problems. If mixed with compost, dry leaves or wood chips in a 1:1 ratio before composting, then these problems can be prevented if adding green clippings to compost pile or bin. Dry leaves can be bagged in fall and saved for mixing with compost throughout the growing season.

I would just do as what you originally planned. I always hear about the ideal method for composting, but it is way too time consuming. I would rather dump the clippings in the trash (ie land fill) than go through getting the right mixture of ingrediants.

I compost, but I just dump whatever I get onto the pile. This may mean grass or leaves or whatever I am cutting or cleaning up. Yes I put kitchen scraps in there as well. I occassionally turn the pile, but I am rewarded with black gold within a season. I then take this and toss it into my vegtable garden and get red, green, yellow, etc... gold. You should see my tomotoes.

The way I look at it, mother nature does not worry about getting the correct ratio of ingredients. If she doesn't care, I will not care. She has been doing it for ever.

just mulch the grass and leave clippings on lawn if not very long they will help retain moisture in soil, why deal with all the bugs and odors from compost ? get a bag of fertilizer at your local nursery and use on your shrubs or get organic feed for your vegetables and fruit trees.

first of all, what exactly do you mean when you say "bin?"
is this a covered bin? does it have a bottom to it? or is it more o of a controlled pile? how will you mix the compost?
and lastly, ever consider vermicomposting?
as you said, you only want to put 1/2 inch every year or two. believe me, you can get much more than that.
the ideal part of composting is to get the right mixture of nutrients. the best way to do this, is to make sure the pile itself is properly aerated and moist.
what i do is vermicomposting. that is - composting with worms. i have a simple 50 gallon bucket with several air holes in the side. all i have to do is drop in an inch or two of organics a month, the worms to the rest. in this case, worms do all of the aeration for you. a properly set up vermicomposting bin takes about 20 minutes of your time a month. and thats just checking to make sure all is going well.
several things you can use when composting are as follows:
breads
newspaper
card board
grass clippings
dried leaves
saw dust
coffee grounds
tea bags
fruits and vegetables
...the list goes on...

what you want to avoid are large peices of wood and meat. they take too long to break down and get smelly.
otherwise, your bin will not smell foully at all. it will have a pleasant smell that personally reminds me of the woods.

remember to aerate, and remember to keep it moist. whether you vermicompost or not, these are most important.
if you want to know more about vermi composting let me know, i've had a successful bin for over 2 years now that gives me more than enough!

I agree with cgar - dump everything in a pile and let nature do the work. All you really need to do is turn it once in a while and add water until it all composts.