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| I am new to composting, having started with an Earth Machine at the end of May. I had resisted composting for some time because I feared I would make a slimy, stinky mess and now I think I've done it big time. After dumping in the thawed and spoiled fruit/veggie contents of my refrigerator/freezer, apparently without adding enough browns, I was horrified to find that the contents of my Earth Machine is crawling, literally, with some sort of larvae. Is it simply a matter of adding more browns to help dry up this mess I have made or is there something more I need to do?
Any advise or support would be very much appreciated, as I'm fairly certain I would just give up at this point if I could come up with an easy way to dispose of this disgusting mess. Thanks,
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Lacking pictures, I'll guess that the critters are youngsters of the soldier fly. Yes, they compost but, most often, under very wet to anaerobic conditions. That's why it's smelly. Just add lots of browns to even things out and everything will take care of itself. |
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- Posted by totallyconfused 6b/7MD (My Page) on Fri, Sep 2, 11 at 6:31
| Thanks. I'll keep piling in the paper. Hopefully I can get rid of them soon. They're gross! Totally Confused |
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- Posted by belgianpup Wa/Zone 7b (My Page) on Sun, Sep 4, 11 at 2:28
| Yes, just add a bunch of dried leaves, straw, shredded/torn newspaper, etc, and it should be fine. But stop adding wet gooshy stuff until it's balanced out and settled down and not stinky. Stink always happens when the stuff is too wet. Just damp is good, soaking is not. Add the stuff in layers, if you can: about 6" of dry stuff, then 2" of wet stuff, and it will work out okay. If it's still too wet, add more dry. If too dry, add more moist stuff. You'll get it, nobody is born knowing everything. When you get your first finished compost, you will be so proud! By next year, you will be an Old Hand. Sue |
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- Posted by totallyconfused 6b/7MD (My Page) on Sun, Sep 4, 11 at 6:31
| Thanks for the words of encouragement Sue. I've added a bunch of torn up paper and cereal boxlike cardboard and mixed it all up real good. Hopefully it will come around. I've never felt like I had the moisture thing quite right. It has always seemed to be too wet at the bottom and too dry at the top, inspite of stirring everytime I add to it. Totally Confused |
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- Posted by belgianpup Wa/Zone 7b (My Page) on Sun, Sep 4, 11 at 12:57
| Next time when you start, put a good layer of dry stuff at the bottom, and if some of the upper layers are too wet, gravity will help drain it into the dry bottom layer and spread out the moisture. When I first started making compost in a container, I had the same problem. Then my neighbor suggested buying one bale of straw and setting it on end against the wall (under cover) and cutting the ties. When I needed a dry layer, instead of tearing up newspaper, I would just lift a flake of straw off the top of the bale and put it in the composter. I seemed to have fewer moisture problems after I started doing this. Sue |
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- Posted by joepyeweed 5b IL (My Page) on Thu, Sep 8, 11 at 17:41
| When you mix up a cake, you slowly mix the wet ingredients in with the dry. If you don't, the batter clumps and then its hard to get a smooth mixture. I think adding ingredients to a tumbler is a lot like mixing a cake. Layer the stuff in small quantities and tumble between layers. |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Fri, Sep 9, 11 at 10:44
| Good analogy with the cake mix. The Earth Machine is not a tumbler though, it's an enclosed black plastic composter with a slightly conical shape. I call it the Darth Vader composter because it looks like his helmet. |
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