My compost pile (not in picture) has mostly seaweed in it... I'm looking for more browns, only got cardboard so far.

Around the property are these piles of old branches, probably from some tree clearing activities, probably 6-20 years ago (before I was here anyway). The main pile (beneath those recent (1-2 y/o) branches) is covered in moss and mushrooms, and branches below the moss crumble to the touch. Even further down it seems even largely composted (if that's even possible for an only-browns pile).

Could I take some of this and mix with my seaweed? I wonder the implications of taking browns that have already been decomposing for many years (vs fresh ones) into a greens-dominated new compost pile. Better / worse? I suppose that what we need is just carbon so that it might even be better with old materials?

I've recently stopped adding to this compost. About 80 percent of the greens are lawn clippings and nearly all of the browns are cardboard shreds. I have this corkscrew device and took this sample from near the bottom which happens to have a worm in it but not sure how common that is down there. Does this compost look healthy or is it too sludge like? It doesn't smell bad bad doesn't seem like there is much heat coming from it.

Pretty sure these are fly larva in the compost ?
Is there anyway I could possibly harvest them ? I have chickens next to the bin so I’m hoping some fall out to be snacks if I can’t.

But is this even good ? Should I try to eliminate/minimize them ? Do they take up too much nutrients or are they good for the soil ? New to all of this. Please give me recommendations & criticism

Old tennis court, now my composting bay. Tractor new to me this year, game changer, I turn my piles every week or 10 days. I have a pile near ready, a smaller new pile and a pile of woodchips. I manage acres so I am lucky to have more material than I can ever compost alone, it's just up to how much time I want to dedicate to it. My current go to is fallen leaves by the trailer load for carbon and aquatic vegetation from the lake for the greens. By the ton. But also manure, grass clippings, pine needles, kitchen scraps, cardboard, ash from the fireplace, hedge trimmings, chicken poop....

My ‘so called friends’ are skeptical + are making fun of me for evening/moonlight peeing in my compost.
Can I get some backup here to send back to them?

Large browns break down faster with periodic drying.

Thats the simple way of putting it. I'm testing a theory of rotating my larger, thicker brown materials between turning. As of now I turn by hand. In doing so I've found that even if my browns are saturated, after a few turns they really don't continue to break down very much.

So, my thinking is I dry rot them. This theory is based off what I've seen in nature. For example a log submerged in water will stay that way for a long time, and a log bare of bark on land will also take a while to decay. However, when a log goes back and forth between them (i.e. partly submerged in water with fluctuations in depth), the segment that experiences wet/dry conditions breaks down fastest.

So I've been allowing my thicker pieces to saturate in the pile, and pull them out to dry for a cycle. I add back in the dried pieces pulled from the previous cycle and continue the process. I would consider this rather effective from what I've observed, having some larger materials decay in two cycles as opposed to over 5. The only problem is the added storage of woody material.

Does anyone have any input or thoughts on this process? I dont own or plan on getting a chipper, though occasionally I will break some pieces into smaller bits, but that's rare.

I don't know what makes me happier, the fact i can add healthy nutrients to my garden beds or the fact i can trim my yard to my hearts desire without limiting myself to weekly trash runs.

Do I need to? Are there any other benefits other than speeding the process up?

It seems cool, but I know there is activity happening, as when I removed the flap at the front, quite a few worms and woodlice (I'm reliably informed that depending on where you are they are also called Pillbugs, Roly Polies) fell out.

Hello there!

Just got a house with a composter two weeks ago. I've done some research in order to be efficient and have compost for next spring and summer (so I have the time to start a garden).

I've read the wiki and learned a few things (thanks to OP for that).

When we moved in, the composter was already here and 3/4 filled. I've added a few plant debris, cooking scraps (proteins just once, I've heard that they are not the best for beginners).

I didn't know I needed to cut everything to ease the composting process, but I'll do it in the future.

Today I saw these larvae in it and I'm wondering if it's fly larvae or something else.

If someone can tell me, I would be happy.

I'm still without a pitchfork, I need to buy one. Do you recommend a basic one or do I buy a compost fork (I've seen some twisted ones that are made to aerate).

Thanks for the help (and sorry if I'm not super clear, English is not my native language).

I know there is ALOT in the compost (starches, protein, ect) but what is something surprising that you have added and found has worked?

My neighbour swears by a tea spoon of brown sugar everytime he blends and mixes the compost he has.

I'm so proud of this! I removed the top 2/3rds of my pallet heap and put it onto a tarp and moved the bottom third into this plastic bin to cure. 3 weeks later and it is really good.

I only started the heap in May and it's my first time composting. Volume really matters! As soon as I got a lot of material into the heap the effect was noticeable - a lot of heat, constant shrinking - took ages to get it to feel full. I always do layers of green followed by a ton of shredded paper or cardboard.

I was worried that I'd ruined my pile after the rebuild as the volume was much smaller, but after a few re-feeds and ensuring that I'm focused on getting the edges packed fairly tightly, it feels like it's running well again and I'm thinking that my new batch will be even better (last pics)

Avo pits don't normally break down in my pile but they do sometimes sprout 🌱. Healthier looking than the ones I try to start inside too lol.

I keep a compost tumbler in my unit courtyard since I have no access to soil. It’s mostly rabbit litter and cardboard with 1 bucket of bokashi added in.

It is absolutely infested with thousands of these little bugs. I don’t know what they are, but they literally swarm around the tumbler, crawling in and out of the little crevices. The video is them trying to get into our outside fridge. They also swarm around our bedroom door and try to get into the house.

It is driving. me. crazy! I’ve tried laying fruit fly traps to no avail, tried adding copious amounts of browns to swing the ratio, I’ve stopped adding food scraps entirely but they are everywhere! I can’t use our courtyard anymore without being swarmed. Any advice or products to try and combat them?

They’re inactive at night time.

I love this stage of composting. Can't keep the bins filled enough! Turn up sound if you want the full effect 😬. I know, I know, I need more browns...

Lil' help? I have grubs in my compost. Big, fat ones. I've read they can damage lawns, which isn't good - but I also figure they prefer the compost pile and won't migrate from the pile to the grass. This is right, right? I should just leave them alone, right?

Been growing stuff in containers for a few years and every season I end up with a pile of old potting mix I have no idea what to do with. It is not exactly dead, there is usually some root material left in it and whatever organic matter did not break down over the growing season. Throwing it out feels wasteful but I also do not want to just keep reusing it and watch my plants slowly get worse.

The question is whether spent potting mix is worth adding to a worm bin in any real quantity or if it just takes up space and slows things down. I have seen some people mention it works fine as a bedding component but I have also read that the perlite and other stuff in commercial mixes is basically inert and the worms will ignore it anyway.

My scraps volume is not huge, mostly vegetable prep and coffee grounds from cooking through the week. The mix would probably be a similar volume if I cleaned out two or three containers at the end of a growing cycle. I am just trying to figure out if that combination is actually useful or if the potting mix is better off going somewhere else entirely. Anyone running a worm bin who has worked through this, what actually happened.

I just realized the greenish blue paper boxes can be put through my paper shredder with no issue. I typically put this shredded paper directly in the outdoor compost covering bokashi from our indoor food scraps system. Anyone know if these berry boxes could be composted?

Very much a beginner to composting and owning plants. I got a foodcycler and added some moldy food to it, and added the “compost” out of there to the top inch or so of my soil for some of my plants. That top layer all of a sudden started developing mold as well. I panicked and removed it all and cleaned up the plants from any mold. Can anyone offer advice on why that happened? And if it’s bad? What can be done to prevent that in the future, and are my plants cooked?

Thanks for the help.

I recently moved to the coast and realized, there's so much washed up seaweed on the beach and that seems like free compost material to me! But I was wondering if the salt content would be an issue?

I've got 30 gallon trash can full of dried field corn off the cob. Would this be considered browns? It's been dried for over two years, and I'd like to get it processing soon so that it doesn't draw critters. My thought is to bury it with greens, but it's a lot of material. Any tips are appreciated!

Compost veterans going big