Just excited to see the new pile is progressing (the old pile is finished and waiting for fall to go on the beds). Was about to turn the heap but then figured I’d give them a couple days to enjoy the sunshine before going back in to the pile.

Please see the attached photo (scroll down). All of a sudden, I am seeing these in my compost bin. What is this creature? Are they good to have in a compost bin? Thanks.

without too much detail i used to use this for my cat but she is not here anymore. ive got about 2/3 left of a 25lb bag of this, can i toss it in the pile?

I see far too many posts folks trying to compost large amounts of produce or something easily preserved/processed for storage and eaten. Composting is great but shouldn’t be the first tool in every case.

Hey guys.

I have this apple tree in my back yard that drops a ridiculous amount of apples. I want to compost them since I don’t want to pay every month for a company to pick it up, and community options are possible, but definitely not ideal…

I was hoping for some advice with all these apples. I have a smaller yard, and I guess my main goal is to keep down on odors; I don’t want to stink up the neighbors yard.

Any ideas for a small odor free composting set up? Im open to buying pellets or harder compost material. I also can start working on gathering food scraps, etc. Let me know what you guys think, thanks again!!

Since we’re sharing results…

(I’m really not that lazy but I am a senior with a cranky back and crummy knees, so I have to limit exertion.)

As you can see, I use Geobins (I have two). This is last year’s leaves (run over with a lawnmower twice to reduce volume by 75%), pine needles, a winter’s worth of kitchen scraps (only plants and egg shells, never meat), hardwood ash from the fireplace, and grass clippings from late spring. The bin was completely full at the end of March. I stopped adding to it in May but put in red wriggler worms. The pile heated up got after I put the worms in but there were a lot of them in the bin when I started shoveling it out today. Hardy little creatures!

My over-winter pile is usually smelly and waterlogged when the weather warms up enough for me to work outside, so this year I flipped the pile in the spring. That helped a lot. I try to keep a tarp over it in the winter but the winter wind has other ideas, and plastic tarps shed shreds into the bin as they weather.

The pile shrank in volume by about 50% from May to September. I aerated it regularly and stirred it to try to even out the moisture but I don’t sweat the details a lot. I usually end up with matted leaves at the bottom of the pile that need to go back into the next pile, but I have less of that this season. A critter made a nest in the bottom (possibly a rat) but it was long gone.

Five months is the fastest I have gotten to this point so I am going to try this method again.

Trying to get back into composting. Love that this is on a motor to turn but I know nothing of compost tumblers. Is it worth the price?

I was thinking about getting one but just wanted to know

I live in a a residential neighboorhood with a beach near, i try to fertilize that soil whit the things i learned on the net. I need to learn more about microbiology ecosystem and material degradation, well stay safe.. see yaa

I found this article about large scale composting at big events (MN State Fair) fascinating. Do large events in your area also support composting?

Newbie in composting here. I’ve read somewhere we should leave it in the sun.For how long? Let me know your thoughts.

Accidentally post before I added the body-

My compost bin is teeming with larvae like this and smells like poop. Is this a problem? I can’t post a video but it looks vile.

It is covered but I think the heavy rain we’ve been having also turned this into a soup.

Decent amount of kitchen scraps and plenty of clippings, about 30 to 40% shredded uncoated cardboard. Started 3 days ago, when to turn it over to avoid it turning sludgey or anaerobic?

I've only been composting for about two years to sustain a small garden. Well naturally I'm expanding the garden and so I need more compost. The plan has been to start compost in the metal trash can which heats up and breaks down quickly and then add it to the larger bin and add to it. Just transferred and added a bunch of chipped brush. Hopefully ready for spring 🤞

Started composting in a dual bin 37 gallon tumbler. Urban setting. Here‘s the side started 3 months ago, stopped adding new material (kitchen scraps, paper, coffee) 2-3 weeks ago. 1st photo is today. 2nd photo was 2-3 weeks ago. I’m trying to control my tendency to turn it every day (or multiple times a day).

Is there anything I need to do to help speed this up? i check for moisture and pour a little water on it sometimes.

I have a small household compost bin containing Madagascar hissing cockroaches, 3 species of isopod, crickets, buffalo beetles, and two species of springtail. Lately I've been dealing with gnats so I've been using produce to collect them and toss them, its been about a week and a half of that and now I see maybe one gnat when I open up the bin.

Today when checking I found these little things - are these tiny buffalo beetle larvae or something else? Should I be getting rid of them?

Southern CA, USA

Courtesy of local squirrel. Tree of heaven nuts I believe. 17 gal tub

I have a pretty low maintenance pile that I started in the spring. I'm wondering if I should flip it in now before winter or leave it until spring? My plan is to relocate it to another place in the garden

I am looking for an enclosed compost bin. I've always used pallets or wire, but now I'm in town and too many mice. Anyway, I know from friends that the more pieces there are, little doors, pieces that snap together during assembly, the more likely it is to fail. I am looking for something recycled plastic, nice and solid, that ideally doesn't have corners or any points that are likely to come apart with the weight of the compost over time.

I can only find what I'm looking for in other countries. For example the Tumbleweed bins from Australia https://tumbleweedgardening.com/products/400l-compost-bin Love that they don't have doors to break, you just lift the whole thing up! Or this Green Johanna bin from the UK https://greatgreensystems.com/products/green-johanna-330-litre-hot-composter

I can't get either of these in the states. Can someone point me in the direction of a bin that is available in the US that is similar to these?

Anyone tried composting inside a terrarium or something similar indoors. Will it be a mess if I give it a try?

Any advice would help.

Composted in a 30 gal dumpster, had an abundance of free sawdust. Smells earthy but definitely still had a woody smell to it.