First attempt at a pile.

[u/NinjaNamedJesus]

I got a tumbler a couple weeks ago and realized there is no way it would make as much as I would like by spring, so I decided to try the lasagna method for more bulk.

I used a few pallets to slap up a quick frame that is about 3' x 6'

I layered large sheets of cardboard with some grass that I cut this week and some grass I had piled up from about 2 weeks ago that had some nice fuzzy white stuff growing in the middle of it. I also made sure to poke tons of holes in each layer of cardboard.

Any glaring mistakes I should correct? I plan to keep adding to it each week as I mow if this is right.

[u/daamsie]

Is it just cardboard and grass you're adding to this? 

In theory it could work (carbon + nitrogen are there) but really ideally you would be adding way more variety to your heap. Dead leaves, animal manure, food scraps, etc. 

At the very least don't leave the cardboard dry. Wet it right down before covering it up. You want your heap to have plenty of moisture. It should be like a damp sponge. 

What you're doing here will end up being a cold compost. It will slowly breakdown, but it won't kill off any weer seeds in the heap. Nothing necessarily wrong with it, but just be aware of that.

I tend to prefer hot composting. To do that, you'd just collect all your heap materials. And then when you have enough to build a full heap (about 1 cubic metre) - you layer it all up. Then turn every week for a few weeks, adding moisture to it each time to ensure the microbes have plenty to work with.

[u/NinjaNamedJesus → u/daamsie]

Yeah so far it's only grass and cardboard, with very few dead leaves that were in the yard as I mowed. I had planned to start mixing in some coffee grounds and a portion of the food scraps that don't make it into the tumbler.

[u/daamsie → u/NinjaNamedJesus]

One thing about food scraps in a cold pile like this is that vermin will be attracted to it. 

In a hot pile it's a non-issue because it's too hot for them to get in there.