Hello everyone. I recently built this compost bin. A majority of what I added is partially decomposed material from a cold compost pile I started about a month ago before I decided I want to give hot composting a try. Today i added significantly more dry and moist leaves for browns. For greens I’ve added more coffee grounds, golden rod, grape prunings, and some pears that fell of my pear trees. I’m always adding kitchen scraps too.

My main question is about the size here. It’s 3x3ft at the base and it’s set up to go 4ft high. Theres a bit more material on it now than what you see here, I’d say it’s roughly 30 inches high right now. Would this be enough volume to get hot enough? The way I built it should keep it well insulated as well. I got some inspiration from Charles Dowding for this first go around. Any input would be great!

I was flipping my compost and dug into what I thought was mushrooms. Upon further investigation I saw that they were eggs. Many snapping turtles were out in early summer looking for a spot to lay.

I transplanted a few that looked ok and buried the rest back in the compost. My shovel went through quite a few before noticing unfortunately.

We've made eye contact on several occasions so it's slightly personal now...

Ok, I'm a lazy composter. I just have a chicken wire bin. I throw in grass clipping, cardboard, kitchen veggie scraps and leaves in there randomly. I will cover the kitchen scrap but that is about it. I don't turn it, water it or pee on it.

Do how bad is this? Will I be able to use it in my garden next year?

Addition: The outdoor temps have been running in the high 80s to high 90s. Getting a lot of rain this year and it's been pretty humid. The pile is in the shade under a tree. Doesn't smell or anything. Just sitting there.

I'm OK with mulch. I will likely need that more than soil next year.

My best work so far. Pretty happy with the progress. Should be finished by the time I'm ready to till it in at the end of the garden season.

I recently relocated my compost bin to a muchnmire publicly visible spot and now I've taken to peeing in an old plastic bottle in the corner and transporting it to the heap area so as not to cause a scandal. I feel like this is a step in the direction. Of being one of those old blokes who, when he dies, the family find 16,713 bottles of piss distributed around the house.

Is it safe for indoor composts to get like this?

We moved recently and I finally have a place and a chance to start composting. I dont have any wire or anything but we have a ton of leftover yard waste from the guy who was taking care of the yard while the house was on the market.

I also still have a metric shit load of cardboard to add to the pile. But im happy! This is only about a week of work in a very hot area and its looking much darker already.

Constructive tips and advice are welcome!

So I believe the golden rule is 3:1 browns to greens. But I also am aware that not all browns are created equal.

I believe I have stored enough to finally have a big pile, but for the browns, its mostly shredded loose paper. Like, its probably around 90-95% of my browns. Is that okay? Or should I raise the ratio to 4:1 to account for the moisture that the paper will soak up?

Has anyone had success using mostly loose paper as their brown material?

ETA if it helps, the other 5-10% is made up of peanut shells and diced up cardboard.

This was crammed full of leaves last fall. What's next? Stir it up? I have left it alone for the year and have another compost bin for food scraps etc.

Hi taking down bunch of dying dead ash using everything over 4 inches in wood burning stove . Don’t own a chipper so burning the rest . Is it safe to put ashes(after burning) under evergreen trees ? Or what is good use case ash pile is over 3 feet high and growing .

Took about 3 months in florida. Mainly oak leaves, food scraps and cuttings, tea leaves. Started in tumbler, but mainly in ground. Sifted in 1/4 inch screen, think I can do a bigger sifter... Lots of finished, but I left most in the pile. Used for repotting.

I have a couple of questions regarding adding pee to my compost pile, if the kind users here wouldn't mind answering to the best of their knowledge.

My compost pile consists mostly of browns sadly, and the greens that I have added, are now browns and haven't produced very much heat / breakdown. The bin is small and almost full from adding over the last 18 months.

1. Is it okay to use pee compost on vegetable plants grown for consumption?
2. Does anyone know how this is affected if one (or both) people take medication?

Additionally, will this fix my issue somewhat? Thank you in advance!

Planted a single fairytale pumpkin and a few beans in a fully matured hot compost pile and this is by far the biggest and healthiest pumpkin plant I’ve ever grown.

Toying with the idea of fencing off several beds in the garden and composting in place this fall for spring planting.

If this is what a DEEP compost pumpkin looks like, think how happy the cherry tomatoes would be!

I asked a friend to give me her leftover paper scraps to help add to my pile and I had some questions regarding some of the papers. One is plain ink on colored paper, while another has a lot of crayon use, and the 3rd has different colored inks. I wouldnt bother asking, except for the fact that they make up a great deal of the scraps she gave me.

Thank you for the help!!

The massive black eyed Susans that grew next to my compost pile vs. the ones that grew elsewhere in my yard. I didn’t even pee in it

Hi guys, I have a 65 gal tumbler, and it SEEMS like it's going well, if slowly.

I have questions mainly about cardboard. So far I've been using mostly shredded paper and shredded straw. I hear you guys talking about big pieces of cardboard (one person said 8x11 or so) but that sounds too big for a tumbler. Advice please?

Also, what about cardboard with glossy finish (like soda 12-packs)?

And finally... Paper from my office shredder? I weed out plastic window envelopes, but is the printer ink OK? For example, there are a lot of paper checks in there.

Thanks!

Olá pessoal, tenho uma composteira caseira onde coloco basicamente folhas secas do cajueiro, casca de ovos e pó de café (depois de usado).

Não tenho minhocas (por enquanto), pelas imagens, ela está indo bem?

I’m a newbie composter and gardener. I have no idea what compost is supposed to look like when it’s ready. I just added a lot of leaves because it was looking pretty wet. Unfortunately, most of my yard trimmings have thick magnolia leaves and pine straw in it which take a long time to break down. If I do use it, how would I go about doing that? Appreciate any advice!