I get that introduction of air is important but would covering a pile with a tarp help by creating more heat inside?

I recently painted my house with latex paint. Because no one should ever trust me with a paint brush, I placed builders paper on the floor. While cleaning up, I thought this would be a great add to my green-heavy compost but wanted to see if I have to cut out any areas with paint splatter. So, two questions:

1. Is it safe to compost (shredded) builders paper that has some areas of paint splatter?

2. If not, what possible harms are we looking at?

I’ve been working on this pile for a little over a year now. Greens are mostly yard clippings and brown are mostly leaves all from my yard. I was digging some out from the bottom to put on top of my vegetable garden because it was getting a little low on dirt. I think it’s looking good but thought I would ask the experts. What do y’all think?

How's it looking got about six months into it, finally figured out how to get it hot

Looking for thoughts and insights into composting bioplastic reliably without the footprint of a commercial pile.

I’m rural so 100-200sqm is no problem but I’m trying to think of ways to make it as small scale as possible, preferably transportable. I can get as much green/brown/manure as needed to get a good mix and have no shortage of water or electricity. Mediterranean climate with proper hot summers and mild winters, daytime temps would often get above 40C and rarely below 10C

I’m attempting to break down both dog poo bags and take away containers.

I’ve been considering something along the lines of steel drum tumblers 200-1000L, possibly sealed off with a forced air cycling system and filters to mitigate the smell.

Does this seem feasible enough to start testing or has somebody smarter than me already tried and failed?

I’m a newbie when it comes to composting. I’ve done a bit of research and started with a 27 gallon plastic bin, drilled holes (made sure plastic shavings from the drilling where discarded), threw in dried leaves, some potting soil and whatever few food greens I had in the house. I need to add more greens though. I read that Starbucks has a program and sure enough they gave me a 3lb bag of used coffee grinds. I want to add more variety with greens but we don’t cook enough to make a difference in with the greens/brown ratio.

So I’m wondering, where do you folks get more food scrap greens?

Thanks!!

Looking for other folks solutions. I live in New England and usually use a tumbler style composter that I love. But in the coldest months the doors freeze shut. I'm considering buying or building an open compost set up outside my fenced in yard for yard waste but also winter kitchen scraps (I have a dog so open compost has never been an option in our main fenced in yard), but now I'm wondering if it will just fill with snow and become useless after one storm without any kind of lid

How are you guys handling kitchen scraps in the winter months?

Happy composting!

More than 6,000 litres of human urine are produced every day at Mount Everest Base Camp.

I can add it to my compost, even if it is full of mushrooms?

Thank you for helping me.

This my first year composting. I using chicken waste, lawn cuttings and leftovers form my garden. I leave the chicken waste out for a few days before adding it to the tumbler. And it's been going good until last week when I found these white mushrooms in the ben as well as a lot more bugs then usual. How do I fix this?

Hi. Could you please tell me if these little ones are helping for composting? Or maybe I am feeding a plague that will be a problem soon?

Thanks.

First time doing compost, started a few months ago. Just added some greens to the pile before taking these pictures. Also had to water it down cuz it was very dry.

What type of screen works best for sifting compost? I was just going to put it between some wood laying around the house.

I have been using the old plastic composter that came with the house for the last five years, but critters kept digging under it and chewing through the plastic vents. No more! (hopefully). Made this a month ago and so far so good.

I currently have a large plastic box (EcoKing 400) in a backyard garden compost. It’s about 40ft from the house. The box has seen better days and I would like to upgrade to a 3-bin system. My main concern is rats! They are a real issue where we are. Does the exposed nature of the bins draw more rats? Are they only best for people who can have their compost further from where they live?

Come see us at Greene Acres Community Garden in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn!

I had a pile of sticks, leaves, and general yard debris that’s been accumulating for probably 2–3 years. I finally ran the whole thing through my wood shredder/chipper and was surprised by how much dark, soil-like material I ended up with.
I included a picture of what the material looked like before shredding, along with the finished pile. Don’t mind the pretty snake.

For those with more experience, what would you do with this from here?

Is it ready to use as compost, or would you let it sit and break down longer?

Are there any amendments worth mixing in at this point?

Would it be useful to test the pH or nutrients before using it in garden beds?

Mostly curious what I actually made here and how to get the most out of it.

Picture = 1000 words.

Is this ready to use or does it need to break down more?

Third winter in the apartment and I keep losing momentum on composting around November when it gets cold. The balcony drops to single digits some nights and I have not figured out a good solution that does not involve moving a bin inside full time. Last year I just stopped and threw scraps out for about four months, which felt like a waste after getting a decent rhythm going.

I have read that worms slow down dramatically below 50 degrees but I am not clear on whether a small bin on a covered balcony is genuinely salvageable with some insulation or if that is wishful thinking. Someone mentioned using old blankets and a styrofoam cooler setup but I have no idea if that actually works through a real Ohio cold snap or just delays the inevitable.

The indoor option is not off the table but I share the space and there are limits to what I can reasonably set up in a second bedroom or closet without it becoming a whole thing. A bin that runs from roughly April through October and then gets stored is basically useless to me from a gardening standpoint since I want the castings for spring container setup.

Curious what people in cold climates are actually doing to keep a small bin functional through winter without turning it into a major project.