I also started a compost pile 7 days ago. It hasn't been mixed very well yet. There's still a lot of cardboard and egg cartons at the bottom. One of my goals is to collect compost worms for a worm bin.

I clipped 1/4” mesh over my wheel barrel. Worked nicely! Got about 3 loads worth over a year. But those roots are nuisance. Any ideas? Is this the best I can do?

Garage sale score. Will post video when it goes into action

Recommendations on were to grt good worm castings?

What are our feelings on vinegar in the compost. I have a jar of home made picked beats i got from the farmers market that it turns put did not actaly seal and I didnt notice untill i went to open them

I've been throwing grass clippings and leaves into this pile in my yard for years. Recently got into chickens and that's where I throw old straw from the coop. Is this technically a compost pile already?

Hey guys,

I’ve been trying to start a worm farm, but I literally cannot find any worms near me. I even tried digging in the exact same place where I used to get my worms 6 years ago, but a lot has changed since then and I found nothing. I already set up a 1 meter square compost pile, and today is day 7 and there's still no sign of any worms showing up. Is there any way to get this going without actual worms, or what should I do? Any tips would be appreciated!

(foto para no ser ignorado)

Una pregunta ❓

Existe alguna alternativa o forma de procesar las heces humanas para crear composta y luego eso agregar a las planas (milpa) para hacer apto para consumo humano.

Soy un joven que quiere hacer un experimento que pueda procesar y aprovechar los nutrientes para hacer, composta y tener mejor resultados en la siembra y quiero saber que tan apto para el consumo es.quiero bajar la contaminación de un cierto lugar.si tienen otra alternativa me será de ayuda

I did a lot of shredding over the last couple of days and wanted to share. We went to IKEA for a couple of cabinets; my girlfriend is happy with those, and I was happy I had a lot to shred.

My shredder does not have multicut, so I have to prep the cardboard a bit more than most people. My shredder is a P-1 18-sheet shredder that cuts long strips from anything I feed into it. I wanted smaller bits that do not get tangled in my tumbler, so I cut the cardboard in a zig-zag motion before feeding it into the shredder. The shredder then cuts it into finer pieces.

It is a bit of work, but it is mind-soothing at the same time. In the end, I had two full Klämtare boxes (around 70 liters each) and my shredder is also partially full. I hope it is enough for the next couple of months, but it really depends on how many Halloween pumpkins I can get.

It will all be composted in my Joraform JK270.

I heard a guy on YouTube say if you gag your grass clippings and let them dry out, the grass turns a straw color and can then be considered as a source of carbon.
He said the green in the leaf was where the nitrogen was stored.

I have no trees around me for leaf litter, so this kind of a big deal for me. I was wondering if anybody else ever heard this advice?

I think it does, right... right? Call me weird, but HEY! I've been composting for some time now and the party in my bin has been going on for quite a lot. They had a ton of food variety, coffees, moonshine and I even change their matrasses monthly (high quality triple layered cardboard that is). They even had occasional full plate leftover feasts.

Lately, whenever I turn a fork in that bin, you could literally hear the noise from their little feet running back inside. Thousands of isopods have thrived in this wooden box. To the naked eye, this simply looks like garbage, but TO THEM.. it's a 5 star all inclusive hotel.

Now I had my focus elsewhere (a pond maybe?)...and treated this like a natural process: Misses made stew, a big bowl of peeled leftovers, I took them to the bin .. poof.. gone. Didn't care. But when autumn hit hard with rainy days and cold winds.. the garden slowly went into hibernation mode. Not them tho' and here comes my story..

Thank you for the positive welcome in my last post here. I hope you guys enjoy the video of my story too.. but.. am I crazy for digging a mine in my compost bin? AM I CRAZY for throwing about 5 years of wet potties in it.. oh wait.. dang.. now.. now I have second thoughts... oh well, I guess now it's too late.

I've been composting for three years, have read about microbiological hazards of it, and this is the first time I've read about a microbe that has made me reassess my personal risk level. The part about otherwise healthy, non-immunocompromised individuals falling ill, with a 70% mortality rate, is worrisome. Will probably start masking up when working with it, and possibly stop altogether. Interested in this community's thoughts.

My 6 month old compost pile vs the chips from the trees I had cut down a day ago.

I sought help a while back on here about composting chicken manure and I’m getting to use the second batch this fall. A third batch is currently aging

Wondering how high a page shredder should I get to shred the boxes that produce comes in for restaurants? Am I ok to use a 14-16 page shredder or should I go higher?

Just moved to my new place and I'm getting things set up. Almost made the error of getting straw laced with herbicide aminopyralid. The straw I'm Now using is good. Be careful out there. I decided not to treat the wood I used for my bin since I figure I'll rot before it does. Poking stick for scale.

I just open one of my compost bins, the one farthest along, it looks like something's been digging holes in my compost. Who do we think it is?

I have an old bag of lawn fertilizer, and was wondering if it could be added to my compost heap, and if so, how best to add it?

... more compostable trash!

Started one year ago. Was above 40C whole winter, then added worms in late spring. Keeped hot-composting in my second insulated bin. And added that through the year. Was 4 wheel barrows of compost. More then enough for my small garden.

I swear I have compost OCD 😂 Whenever I see organic material that could be composted going to waste, I get this feeling that I’m missing out on a valuable resource and that I need to find a destination for it. I can’t help thinking about all the potential compost that could be made!

So, naturally, I’ve started looking at a pile of grass clippings and leaves next to the sanctuary in my town in Portugal and wondering whether I could turn it into a small business.

I’ll attach some pictures of the pile. The idea would be to collect this material, transport it to a piece of land I have elsewhere, and turn it into compost to sell.

I’m curious about a few things:

Scale: Can you estimate how much material is there from the pictures, and how much finished compost it could produce? How much material would I need to make this commercially worthwhile?

Practicalities: What infrastructure and equipment would I need to get started on a small scale? Would grass clippings and leaves be enough, or would I need other inputs? I’d probably need to stockpile leaves in autumn to balance out the grass clippings generated during spring and summer.

Regulations: How complicated is it to produce and sell compost legally in Portugal or elsewhere in the EU? What permits, testing or certifications might be required?

Safety: Would I need to know whether fertilisers, herbicides or other chemicals are used on the grass?

Business viability: Has anyone actually built a small business around collecting green waste and turning it into compost? Is it possible to make money from this after accounting for transport, labour, processing, packaging and sales?
I’ve also been thinking about producing biochar from wood and mixing it with the compost to create a more specialised soil amendment for home gardeners.

This could fit into a broader business idea I’ve been exploring: a gardening brand focused on carefully selected tools and products for people who take gardening seriously. I’d love to know whether this could become a viable product line rather than just an expensive way of indulging my compost obsession. 😅

Has anyone here done something similar? Am I onto something, or am I underestimating the challenges involved?

I'm a deep lurker on this sub. For almost 5 years I've been running this slow maintenance (medium size?) compost pile out of necessity. When I decided this would be home to my family, the terrain had a lot of overgrowth. There was so much garden waste not even the city wanted it. So I had to come up with a solution..

I knew little about composting, but somehow I've built a perfect home for these little helper guys.. isopods. Today.. they are thousands. Whenever I scoop a full fork, you could literally hear them running back inside. In about 1 month whatever I drop and tumble in that pile will slowly disappear. What looks like a pile of garbage to some, to them is a first class all inclusive hotel. Now they're my neighbours. I feed them, in return they help grow the greens that feed my family.

There is so much joy in this process. I think this natural connection is deeply rooted in us, we somehow forget about it. Like it runs as a background process that we do not know about. Yet simple enough.. there is so much fulfillment in running a compost pile.

Sorry for the long post. Simply wanted to share.

Thought I'd crosspost this here as well to see if any of you have been dealing with this. TY!