Composting in Tulsa vs. Ozark

I don't even have my furniture moved into the house in Tulsa and already I'm setting up a small composting system.  I've been composting entirely too many years to go back to putting my coffee grounds and apple cores into my curbside trash.  But how do I incorporate a temporary compost into our lovely (much smaller than our Alabama property) back yard?  It's so easy!  I experimented with this method before I left Alabama and was amazed and pleased with the end result.  Anyone can do this and it's perfect for the smaller back yard or patio.

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Here's the simple-anyone-can-do-it method of composting:

1) Choose a  large, plastic tub that is easy for you to manage and move.

2) Remember, your compost wants air and some moisture.  So, using the only tools I had available in my Tulsa place, I used a sharp knife to make the initial pierce and then poked a screwdriver into this same slit and reamed a bit of a hole that would remain open and allow for drainage (a drill with a pea-sized bit  or an ice pick would work just as well).  Make a dozen of these  holes spaced evenly around  and across the bottom of your tub.  This should keep rain water from accumulating in the the bottom of your barrel.

3) Start your compost out with several inches of "brown/carbon" materials, such as leaves, straw, finely shredded paper or a combination of all of these.  Now you're ready to add those kitchen scraps.

Do not let anyone tell you that compost attracts flies (you know who you are :-).  If you keep with the 'do's and don't's' of composting, your compost will not attract these little diptera.  No meats, dairy, fatty foods and you'll have clean compost, inviting only the itty bitty little microbes that are the heroes of composting and necessary to turn your scraps and yard waste into Black Gold.  

Your tub composter can  be placed right next to your back door when the weather is nasty or too cold to walk out to your existing compost. Or you can keep it away from the house if you're trying to take more steps each day.  Either way, you can add a lot of kitchen scraps to this tub.  Each time I add kitchen waste to the tub, I toss in another layer of leaves to top off the green/nitrogen matter (no shortage of leaves in my new Tulsa yard.  It keeps the compost looking neat and tidy.