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| I decided that I should start to compost last fall. I did not want to invest into composting bins and I was not in a hurry, so I got a wooden crate ( 4'x4' free from the guy I bought tiles from) and added a layer of fallen oak/maple leaves and another layer of grass clippings. Then I did nothing entire winter. The bin is located in woods and does not get much sun. This season I have added about 4 cups of coffee grounds and grass clippings. It doesn't seem to be breaking down and when I used my augur to drill few holes for air based on some other post here, it smelled pretty bad. So I moved the pile around and I see lot of white fungus in there.
Here is a picture of the compost heap 
I am still not in a hurry. I would be happy if I have good compost by fall or even by next spring. I can start another heap for new grass clippings if I should not add any new material to this one .. I want to use the compost for a vegetable garden I want to start from next spring. I do not have garden fork/pitch fork to easily turn the pile. I do have a bulb auger that I can use to drill in the pile. help? suggestions? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Looks like waayyy too much greens. I'd add some leaves or straw or wood shavings/chips or shredded paper or other 'browns'. Volume wise, a good starting point is two to three browns to one green and adjust from there. A good fork is very helpful tool with bins like yours but I have no problem using my hands to mix stuff in. Lloyd |
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- Posted by jonhughes So.Oregon (jonehughes@hotmail.com) on Tue, May 31, 11 at 17:41
| Hi tnkrer, Lloyd is THE MAN, and you have now heard from him, my own paltry (in comparison) advice, would be keep it moist, it looks dry as a bone, and not even bones like to be dry ;-)
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| Lloyd, Thanks. I have lots of fallen leaves (maple/oak) in the woods from last fall (This layer of leaves in the woods is dry at the top and wet/black/mucky at the bottom, take it all?) and I have lots of shredded office paper (photocopier kind). Are both OK? (also, that means, I should not put new grass clippings in there, since they are greens). I do intend to invest in a big fork .. after I convince myself that I am in this gardening/vegetable growing business for long haul :) Jon .. Is that your compost pile? When I started my compost pile in fall, I thought that by this spring, I would have the "black gold". I will add some browns and then spray it occasionally when I am watering the gardens. Let's see how that goes. |
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| Paper or leaves are good C materials. I prefer leaves as they have many varied micro-nutrients in them and paper doesn't really have any at all but when C is called for, any port in a storm isn't a bad plan. Some will advocate leaving forest duff alone, I have no opinion on that one way or the other, but I see their point. If you want to add more clippings, just make sure you add some C material, 2-3 times the greens by volume is a good starting point. Good luck, have fun, keep us posted on how it works for you. Lloyd |
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| The white stuff is ash from your cookin' pile! It looks pretty good to me. Lay off on the grass clippings and start a new pile. |
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| I had bought some brown mulch last year from a local mulch place. We did not like the mulch, since it had a lot of dirt, wood chips and much less bark. It has been lying on the ground for last year (and growing mushrooms .. don't know what the guy had in that mulch ...) Would that be a good source of brown? |
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| It is a brown but large chunky stuff isn't the best for composting. Perhaps shredded or ground up somehow would be better. Having said that, I'd chuck it in if I wanted to get rid of it but it might take a while to fully break down. Lloyd |
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Added browns (leaves and shredded paper .. I have lots of oak leaves though :( ) watered it. I will stir it up after a week and add more browns.  |
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| What does the pile smell like? An ammonia like odor indicates Nitrogen is escaping while a putrid odor (sewage like) indicates the pile is too wet. |
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| I think its putrid .. Its not pungent like ammonia. It shouldn't be wet though .. We had no rain and have high temps for last two weeks. (I did dump the lawn cuttings directly into the bin) |
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- Posted by mustard_seeds 4 -Onalaska Wisconsi (My Page) on Wed, Jun 1, 11 at 15:16
| I wonder of it would be easier to turn on occasion if one of the sides somehow came down or off - if you are interested in that can you think of any way to fiddle with the nails or cut into a side? Then maybe some heavy gauge wire to hold the side back on... I would suggest a tined fork as a good composting tool - nice for stirring up the pile and moving it about. But your auger thing sounds nifty, too! -Rachel |
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