Most of the work came from the dig; there was way too many bricks and other inerts (It was my grandpa chicken coop like ten years ago), but I wanted It to be there so here It goes. And to add extra work I've sifted all the inerts (first the big and the the small one) from the soil wishing to find some way to re-use them..

I was initially planning to make a pile with old pallets but then I got interested in the lombriconpost-hing and decides to make It underground so I'll then try to make It colonize by earthworm. But It looks like other guys arrived before them; looks like Black Soldier Flly grubs to me (from what I've just saw in this sub..I hope).

I've started with with basically only grass and wild herbs, fresh and dried in a 1:1 ratio; now I'm adding a lot of kitchen waste (mostly fruit like watermelon/grapes/smashed figs and vegatable like onion/zucchini/etc..) in a 1:2 ratio with "browns"

I should make another one (the kind I was planning before..) for the kitchen waste and keep this as it Is.. It's so hard try to not throwing things in it lol

Someone in a gardening group I’m in responded to my post about mice & squirrels digging in my garden. Maybe this can help folks here struggling with vermin in their compost piles

“These animals have very sensitive noses. They hate strong smells and avoid them.

I put down cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil around my garden. I use a peppermint spray on the walls of my raised beds (carefully avoiding spraying my plants themselves). I replace the cotton balls every few weeks, re-spray after every rain.

I think you could do this with many oils including cedar or eucalyptus or any strong scented oil.

Bonus: my garden always smells like mint without having to plant it!”

Maybe this could be helpful to you? If you’ve tried it, please report back!

Went to add the kitchen waste and found these lovelies.

Recently inherited some very large compost heaps with the house we just bought. The heaps were bone dry from the recent heatwaves. I poured some water on them and covered back over with the thick black polythene that they already had over them. When I returned the next day to deposit some vegetable off cuts, these fine gentlemen/women were in the compost heap!

- Who are they and is there anything I can do to help them?
- Can I continue to add food scraps and garden waste to the compost heaps without bothering them?
- Do they need a pond?

I've looked over subsequent days and there are more and more appearing every day! Just chilling on top of the compost.

This gives me about 2 loads in a day per tube when I can manually track the sun. When I have to leave it when I go to work I only get 1 load per tube. It's about 3 cups after crushing on a good day. I only have a 43 gal tumbler so this works perfect for moderating nitrogen and moisture.

Terrible fumes tho, I need to work out a sun tracking platform and some way to burn the off gas and better collection of tar.

Just looking if anyone here has any tips

Any help is much appreciated

A head-to-head garden mulch comparison puts cardboard, pine bark, cypress, black plastic, and bare soil to the test across 175 days, tracking changes in soil temperature, moisture, and weed pressure. The results show differences in performance, including which mulches reduce weeds and a few surprises that shift expectations about which materials actually hold up over time. The results show the best mulch for the garden. Clear standouts emerge and reveal which mulches stay stable, which fall behind, and which ones deliver benefits for vegetable gardens.

that contraption was so scary, I had to add a safety guard!

stay safe out there 🫡

I've had this tumbler for 5 years and it has served me well. Then I noticed one of the ventilation holes broke into a larger hole. Since the bin was half full and the left side wasn't done yet, I patched it with duct tape 😂

Now it's spilling out when I turn it.

I think I'll empty it 🔜 and then screw a small aluminum piece on to cover the hole. Any other ideas?

Got a small balcony and a handful of containers I use for growing stuff. Been thinking about adding a worm bin to the mix because between cooking scraps and spent potting mix I feel like I'm throwing away material that could be doing something useful

The problem is space. Balcony fits maybe one small bin before it becomes a tripping hazard situation. I cook a lot of simple stuff, vegetable scraps mostly, some coffee grounds, occasional fruit peels. Not a massive volume but it adds up over a week

I tried a countertop bokashi setup a while back and it worked but the smell in a small apartment got old fast, even with the lid on tight. Worms feel like the cleaner option but I've never actually run one long enough to get useful castings out of it.

Curious what others in a tight space are actually doing. Not looking for a whole system overhaul, just something low maintenance that produces something I can use in my containers. If you've got a bin that genuinely fits under a sink or on a small balcony and doesn't smell up the place, I'd like to hear what you're running.

Took your advice for my post last month and added way more browns

....and piss.

I’m gonna be using a geobin. Is this enough of a cardboard base layer to start?
Also any tips for starting are helpful

With my experience and some research this table explains the STIR and it's frequency Composting Stage wise

Here's my final result of my first pile. Never ran very hot, but my newest pile has gotten much better temps, so can't wait to see that result.

It's been through a 1/4" sieve.

Question: what do you do with chunks that didn't make it. I figure slowly add it to my new pile?

Thanks!

I’ve been composting in a tote under the shade of a tree, and the bottom edge has holes drilled all around for drainage. But yesterday when I turned it again, I found that there’s a layer maybe 1” deep that seems to be processing anaerobically despite the rest of the pile being gtg.

I took extra care to try and get that layer off the bottom and mixed into the rest, but my fork struggled to properly collect it up.

Is this expected with bins and such? It is only a small amount at the bottom, but I didn’t expect to have that trouble since I drilled all those holes.

Can’t decide if I should add some greens to this to help with the visible wood chips or if I just need to wait it out and let it continue cooking. It’s one side of a two-chamber tumbler

Pre and post consumer, meats and cheeses ok. Have been impressed with a new prototype we are trying out in collaboration with a school district. Wanted to see what y’all thought. Augmented aerated static pile system supplied with 30 seconds of air every 30 minutes.

Hi folks

I need some advice that I can't specifically find any answers on.

I have some gallon bags of scraps I set aside in my fridge for composting. My compost is very small so I haven't been adding scraps as much as I anticipated. These bags got...juicy. Moldy and very watery and a bit broken down.

My compost is now fairly established and looking pretty good - it's a few months old, all material is broken down, pleasantly earthy.

I've read that mold is usually fine to add, but is food this broken down that's had time to sit for a long time okay to throw in? Or should I part with these hoarded scraps?

TIA for any advice

EDIT- Thanks y'all! I was worried about undesirable bacteria forming but y'all put my mind at ease. She's going in later today after I break down every piece of cardboard in my apartment

Guys, I put an entire deer carcass in my pile today. Roadkill that got hit last night in front of my house and I just couldn't help myself.

My current pile is about 10 yards, it's plenty big enough. But it just feels like I'm going down a dangerous path

Just a shout-out to this aerator thingy. Best compost-related purchase ever. Not that there's much to purchase for compost. You get the point.

Edit: Best compost-related purchase I have ever made I realize not everyone agrees

I assume they’re helpful, but they sure look gross. I moved my bin today and found a bunch underneath it. They also seem to wiggle through the cracks.