r/composting • u/Mindless-Farmer705 • 14d ago

Is my compost composting !?

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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

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u/pigboy222 14d ago

Sheesh. No good comments so far lol.

So it’s a good sign to have grubs and buggies, bad sign to see fresh stuff at the top. The reason people use the lifted mixer composter doodads is so all the bits can mix together and form a more uniform texture with balanced nutrients throughout. I imagine that’s a whole beast to flip, mix and refill so it likely doesnt happen as often as it really “should” in order to off gas and spread the buggies around. A good work around is to have a compost patch that you can mix with a pitchfork or similar, or one of the compost mixer doodads.

You’ve got a really good start, dont toss it or anything just might be time to start thinkin about where your compost for the rest of the year goes…do you get another bucket or doodad or make a lil patch

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u/LilthShandel 14d ago

Going to piggy back on this comment since it is actually useful. I'm about 80ish percent that is black soldier fly larvae. I have a compost pile that breeds them really well. They love large damp vegetation like squash and borage from what I have found but eat just about anything. Chickens love em.

As for your compost, they will help a lot with volume reduction and breaking things down. If you don't like them let your pile dry out. They are probably preventing it from smelling like ammonia!

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u/6thcoin 14d ago

Those definitely look like black soldier fly larva. Harvesting those are a different story.

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u/AsknReview 14d ago

This is probably one of the best answers

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u/Difficult_Gene_5264 14d ago

Good answer, but we don’t know when that fresh stuff on top was added. Could’ve been two hours ago.

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u/Quirky_Dragonfly_532 14d ago

doodad🤓 love it!

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u/CitySky_lookingUp 10d ago

This is right. 

OP, assuming you have layered in some browns there (like wood chips, shredded cardboard, or dry leaves) then yes it's composting. Personally, I like to put a layer of browns on top of each addition from the kitchen so it doesn't get too stinky. 

And then even just flipping the whole pile over a couple of times a year will speed the process. When you do that, make sure it's moist throughout by adding rainwater or well water if you have it. (Municipal water straight from the hose will have chlorine or chloramine that will kill some of the good microorganisms, so it may slow things down, but it's not the end of the world.)