The Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County's outdoor compost bins were built from discarded wooden pallets ? a free source of material ? and constructed directly on the soil, allowing insects and organisms to move freely and down into the soil for warmth if desired. By the spring, the piles will be at least 50 percent smaller with useable compost in the center/bottom of the pile, said Joyce deVries Tomaselli, Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County Interim Horticulture Coordinator, who is pictured here.
Composting isn't new to Lori Brengelmann.
The East Fishkill resident and director of the town's Beautification Department has kept an outdoor compost pile at her home for years for use in her vegetable gardens.
But this year she's trying a new way to compost - indoors, thanks to a program she attended by Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County at Adriance Memorial Library in Poughkeepsie about six weeks ago. ...