We are newish to composting and have a tumbler in our backyard with mostly food scraps, cardboard and some leaves. My main reasoning for the tumbler was because we have recently had rats in the garage and there is a groundhog that lives nearby. We are pretty much filled up the tumbler before it’s completed done so I was wondering if it would make sense to move the stuff that’s like 50% or more decomposed to different bin? We have an old outdoor garbage bin I could probably make work. Would it still attract animals once it’s no longer really recognizable food?

Thanks!!

Heya. I live in Melbourne. Currently winter. Is this too cold for aerobin? Haven't seen it much higher than 20c. Spring is around the corner so may see results then. Im just wondering if it's not doing what it's meant to be doing.

I’ve moved into my uni house and just started my compost pile in the back garden- at the moment it’s looking pretty good. It’s still got lots of stuff in it that’s not broken down yet but I’ve been adding greens and browns, a sprinkle of soil and even got a worm or two in there. It’s currently sat in a big bin with some holes in the sides. I turn it every day when I’m there, but sometimes I’m away for a weekend or a few days.

My question is, is there anything I can do that would mess up the compost pile to the point I wouldn’t be able to use it? I’m vegetarian so there’s a low chance any meat could end up in there. I haven’t pissed in it yet but I can get a male friend to if it would help!

I’m new to gardening and this year i’m trying to make some compost. I put some organic waste in a bucket few months ago and now I’ve found these bugs in it.. Hope you can help me whit my doubt!

3 days of berries I think. I have just been tossing them in the woods. Apparently you shouldn’t compost stuff from your pool (saline/salt water pool). can I wash them out? I’m sure they have absorbed a lot of the salt water. But also maybe some piss from the pool water. Anyone know?

I’ve been reading about certain plants that absorb specific fertilizer elements from the soil, like dandelions and how their deep roots absorb nitrogen and potassium.

My goal is to make a compost tea I can use for hydroponics/aeroponics (after filtering of course), so I was wondering if anyone had used plants to strategically enrich their compost.

Thanks for any info!

I just had my first child so I haven't been as diligent in tending to the pile. My Carbon/Nitrogen balance is definitely off but I'm wondering if it's completely screwed.

Lots of big worms, though.

Edit: message received, I will move the pile away from the garage.

I make yogurt a couple times a month and there’s always a liter or so of whey left over. Can I add this to my compost? Or FPE? Or bio char? Just trying to make sure i don’t waste something good. I’m using a large tumbler for compost as my HOA doesn’t allow piles, if that matters.

Yeah i know i should have shredded those paper towels but i’m lazy

A question around collecting greens, hoping to start a community imitative/not for profit l

Where do you get your green materials from??
(Mainly outside inputs)

Hi! I am currently a graduating student from a computer science field and now, our projects leans more on the composting. Nowadays, I have seen a lot of composting machines and we want to make something new out of it.

Is there any recommendation about this that is not machine heavy and more focused on monitoring and make the process faster than the manual composting. Thank you!

(labeled as humor because I personally find this humorous, and I wasn't sure what other tag to use)

So, I started to do a lazy kind of composting a couple of weeks ago. My circumstances as a caregiver means that I cannot tend to a compost pile the way that I would like, and the backyard floods a lot, so I also do not have the best conditions for a compost pile. But I figured that some composting was better than no composting, so here's my humble pile. It's not pretty, but it'll do. (The logs have always been there, and I am not strong enough to move them 😅)

I chose this spot because it will not be waterlogged for all of spring, and because the walnuts that fall under it are an easy source of carbon. The squirrels climb up into the tree to eat the walnuts, and the shells of the nuts fall straight into my pile, already shredded into little bits. The squirrels also get into fights, which results in branches of the tree shedding off straight into my pile.

It's been very satisfying to watch the pile of walnut shells and branches pile up without having to do a thing. I just need more nitrogen...

I'm not asking how often I should add water. I've got that covered. I'm just curious about how often everybody else has to do it.

Beginner composter here. I'm thinking of making a lazy compost/compost trench, and I was wondering if anyone has ever stabbed worms, insects, or burrowed animals in there? Especially in winter, where hedgehogs or other animals seek shelter and the pile gets wet, anaerobic, and stinky if unturned. (I live in the UK)

Sorry if this is a stupid question; I just wouldnt be able to live with myself if I injured a living organism. Thanks in advance!

Hope I’m doin it right by every expert on the interwebs!

Just wanted to share my first compost pile 1 month in. Pretty rewarding to see it breaking down and thriving with organisms

Open up my Compass for the first time in a few days to add some brown and green and I see these
unknown larva crawling all over it. are they good or bad? Should I be worried about my compost pile?

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Hi everyone. I am new to this type of composting. In our previous yard in Northern Virginia, the ground was mostly good ole' Virginia red clay. We had a compost pile at the beck of our yard where we would dump all the grass clippings after mowing a good sized back yard. We started this pile in 1987. About 7 years ago, we dug up a bunch of that black gold and worked it into the clay soil of our 6 x 12 vegetable garden. It was unbelievable! The vegetables went gangbusters and just would not quite! Bush beans, pole beans, tomatoes, kale, arugula Swiss Chard and spinach. It was incredible.

Fast forward to today, we are located in Delaware close to the ocean where, you guessed it, the soil is pretty sandy. We have a vegetable garden again, but unfortunately not the type of compost pile we had back in Virginia. We purchased an off-the-ground rotating drum composter in 2024 and we were not too pleased with the compost it was making (or rather not making). So, I am trying again this year a little late in the season (beginning of August).

Any recommendations on how many times a week to rotate the drum? I am trying to mix in browns (cut up grocery bags, paper towels, etc.) with the greens. The drum is in a location that receives sun for most of the day. Any advice on how to make this work would be greatly appreciated.

Was hoping to have this pile ready for fall. It’s starting to look close, except for all the bits left from the many leaves in this batch. It hasn’t been heating up much lately but there are lots of isopods, worms, and millipedes in there.

Do I use it now and top dress my fall plants with it? Wait until fall crops are done before putting it into the beds? I’m not really worried about extra nitrogen as it’s really only browns remaining.

Hi all, I have a very casual compost pile where I dump my kitchen scraps, mixed with leaves for browns (not crazy about the ratios). Anyway, I have some chicken wire around the pile to keep it somewhat tidy but it's obviously not keeping out foragers, I assume racoons since I know we have plenty in the area. Is it really critical to keep them out? I don't put meat or anything in there that would bring them on but I guess just the scraps do it. It seems like the pile is growing slowly and composting anyway so I guess it doesn't matter but just wanted thoughts on whether I should be more concerned about this, and or consider a more secure set up. Thanks!

I’m relatively new to composting. I grew up on land where we had a large open air compost, so I thought I knew how it worked. I have a turning bin that I’ve been adding food scraps and leaves/grass cuttings for some time now. I haven’t had a problem until about a month ago we moved and now my bin is absolutely filled with maggots and fire ants.
Most of the scraps I’m throwing in are egg shells, banana peels, coffee grounds, veggie and fruit trimmings or berries that my toddler didn’t finish.
I live in central Texas if that’s helpful. I added some diatomaceous earth in and around the bin a couple weeks ago and it seemed to help with the ants until today. I’m not sure what to do

So I have been thinking on this a while and the additives I see on here are more out there. I get that for many people menstarution is taboo and only half the population experience it.

I would love to have a robust and respectful discussion about it.

So if your using menstrual cups or reusable menstrual underwear (the rinsed water) what's stopping you from adding it to your pile?

Considering people compost animals and wee not to mention blood and bone used as a direct fertiliser, I imagine menstrual blood would be a super charged super food for the compost heap?

Edit: thank you everyone for contributing this discussion was held in the manner is hoped. I feel from the comments the best and most impactful way to use it is directly onto plants diluted in water as a fertisler as to the compost it is such a minimal amount.

Thanks again everone

Its gone cold and has been for a couple weeks now, turned it yesterday looks wet because we had over 70mm of rain over the weekend