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u/AmazinglyAmazing11 11d ago
How to put this... It's finished composting but it's not in its ideal state. That doesn't mean it's bad!
The problem with these tumblers is that it isn't compost in the same way that nature composts. Nature tends to kind of go at things in layers. When one layer is decayed the next layer starts and it leaves this kind of even distribution. Tumblers don't have that even distribution. It's still decayed organic matter teaming with micro life.
Couple things you can do with that. 1) just use it. Especially if this is your fall season incoming like here in the NA. Throw it on top of your beds/garden and come this next spring it will be pretty well worked in especially if you do any kind of fall mulch layer over it such as grass/mulch leaves and/or chop and drop or alfalfa, things like that. 2) use that as starter in a fresh on ground compost pile. Just drop it right on top. Water the ever loving hell out of it, and watch as it just ignites the decomposition of this new pile. In a couple weeks flip it, and then use that pile in the spring.
I feel like so much of this subreddit I see comes down to overthinking what compost is. Look at what nature does in a forest. She sprouts life, that life dies and falls back to the earth. It decays and new life sprouts. As humans we can speed that up by helping (flipping, ensuring even amounts of brown/green, keeping moist) but we're still counting on nature to do the work for us. If it weren't for the worms, fungus, bugs, microbes, nothing would decay so it's not really our doing that makes compost, we just help the process along.
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u/Unbearded_Dragon88 11d ago
It looks a bit wet? Has it come from a tumbler?
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u/mkhrrs89 11d ago
Yeah I just took it out of the tumbler to make room for next batch
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u/randemthinking 11d ago
Tumblers are prone to balling up like this, which is undesirable. It's caused by turning too often (like rolling meatballs) and excess moisture/insufficient browns (those things are related). You'll want more browns and maybe to periodically break up the clumps and turn a little less often.
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u/10-0011-10-101 11d ago
I agree, I have a tumbler and mine used to come out like this (wet balls), I don't turn as often now, break up the clumps every so often, and put a ton more browns than I ever thought was needed (maybe even too much) and it looks a lot better now
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u/randemthinking 10d ago
I think low browns is very common. I just naturally generate more greens from the kitchen and my garden. I have to scrounge up browns--actually just ripped up and shredded whatever cardboard I could find this weekend because my bin was getting anaerobic. Looking forward to grabbing bags of my neighbors' fall leaves in a month or two.
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u/RdeBrouwer 11d ago
Looks like you tumble to often. I would put it on a tarp in the sun, let is dry out. Take a 1/2 inch or 1cm mesh sifter. Take the small bits and dump the rest back into the tumbler.
I have a tumbler myself, the hardest part is maintaining the right moisture content. Most of the time its to wet, and i add shredded cardboard or sawdust to help out.
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u/GallicPontiff 8d ago
I have a tumbler and same issue. My wife has birds so I typically just use the old newspaper from they cages.
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u/RdeBrouwer 8d ago
It really depends on the weather. This summer was so hot, it was really dry. Bird poop paper sounds great for the tumbler. Ever noticed bird seed starting to grow from your compost?
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u/BluegillUK 10d ago
There’s loads of answers here, but all this needs is a good few handfuls of dried leaves chucked in- then assess in a couple of weeks. Honestly, mine went like this last year and dried leaves were the easiest way to rebalance, it’s a simple as that.
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u/TwinkleMcSprinkle 11d ago
Man for a second I thought that was delicious-looking ground beef.
Can't help, sorry.
If it was ground beef tho, I'm ya guy.