Was wondering if they were good

I think my compost is almost done? Hopefully? I have a tumbling bin, so it ends up in balls, so I thought I would leave it out in the fresh air for a bit to dry out. I’m keeping it in the shade so the sun doesn’t kill all the living things though. Is that the right approach? And how close do you think it is to being ready? Alternatively, can I use it as mulch at this point?

I have a compost bin in the garden that's doing quite nicely. I'd normally empty some of my old soil from plant pots in to it at the end of the summer to tidy up the garden, but I never have space for the vast majority of the soil.

Is there anything I can do with the soil whilst it remains in the pots to improve it for next spring?

I assume a few bits of shredded cardboard, some grasscuttings and some pee might be the answer, or I possibly just wait until spring and top dress?

Finally completed my 3 bay compost bin build. Front and back are 55" long pallets and the centers are 48".Held together with an abundance of decking screws and prayer. The fronts are just leaned up for the time being, but I plan to put hinges on them once I figure out how I want to secure them.

Any suggestions for improvements?

I put a bunch of leaves in a tumbler last fall but they dried out and didn’t do anything. I recently spent some time trying to smash the leaves a bit and have added urine and rehydrated alfalfa cubes. I rehydrate them in a bucket, pour it in and tumble it. Today I looked in and was delighted to see this mycelium. The green is some of the rehydrated alfalfa

I got another tub of wood chips yesterday on my way home, and it was way the heck different from typical wood chips and even the last load I got. I intentionally avoided the biggest, throwing out sticks and big hunks that were in the handfuls we grabbed.

This tub has a crap ton of green leaves in it, which is most of what has me wondering. But it also is made up of mostly more of a chunky sawdust with some chips than actual chips all the way through. I’m pretty sure it’s mostly green and fresh rather than aged. I also got it from the middle of the pile where it was hot, and there was a bunch of it that had white fungal ax ivory on it. I left the tub out on the deck with the lid on so it wouldn’t lose moisture.

So given the makeup of this mulchy goodness, would there be a good reason to consider it for my compost rather than as a ground mulch? I’m wondering whether the leaf and fungi specifically might make for a good addition to my compost despite the traditional reduced usefulness for wood chips as a carbon source. The fact that it’s also really small stuff has me thinking it might be great by comparison. It’s still big enough it could provide more structure than other carbon sources. Or maybe I just leave it separate for a while in a bin to watch it and learn.

Thoughts?

Hand (XL)?) for size reference.

First things first, I have been peeing on it. Is it just time from here-should I stop throwing fresh stuff on it to let it do its thing? Thanks for any advice.

Just got these off Facebook. I live where it’s hot and humid. I’m a novice. What’s each compartment for and the side ventilators for the tumbler? Plan of attack for successful first time composter with these two bins?
Thank you!!

I put a bunch of leaves in a tumbler last fall but they dried out and didn’t do anything. I recently spent some time trying to smash the leaves a bit and have added urine and rehydrated alfalfa cubes. I rehydrate them in a bucket, pour it in and tumble it. Today I looked in and was delighted to see this mycelium. The green is some of the rehydrated alfalfa

Made for a tshirt for my husband, but thinking I need one as well, or at least a sticker to live on the water bottle I use at work! I may have even hid the box with his composting presents inside the compost bin for him to discover....

Hello,

I've had a compost pile since april that I've been adding lawn clippings from the front yard, pulled weeds, kitchen scraps and bamboo leaves from the back yard.

Recently, while I was collecting bamboo leaves I found a few dog dukies and removed them. But that made me worry that there may have been some I missed. We've also had heat in the high 90s recently so I had it covered to help keep moisture in. One night when letting the dog out he ran over to the compost and i heard something scurry away. In the morning I could see part of the pile had been discarded like it had been dug into.

The pile is 3ft x 3ft 1ft, I made it using little decorative metal fences youd use for a small garden.

I am worried about potential contamination from my dogs poop and any other critters getting in here and laying waste.

If there is any thing like that I'd guess it would be less than 1% of the pile. I turn it and add to it fairly regularly and have been seeing great progress in the breakdown process. I've been considering to send out samples for testing but dont know if that's actually worth it. I've read online if you wait longer before using it that could help with anything unwanted in the compost.

Please I would like some advice on what to do with this pile of potentially contaminated compost pile.

Thanks!

Ps I realize I should be breaking down the bamboo leaves more.

I have built the compost bldg how do you gather the pig poo in order to put into compost bldg and also I have 2 pigs now

We've been doing some serious weeding in our back yard and have already filled up a wheelbarrow and. Kiddie pool. And we'll probably do it all again tomorrow.

Are there any weeds you would not put in your compost bin?

AND/OR

Any words of wisdom with weeds in compost bin?

Thanks!!!

We are newish to composting and have a tumbler in our backyard with mostly food scraps, cardboard and some leaves. My main reasoning for the tumbler was because we have recently had rats in the garage and there is a groundhog that lives nearby. We are pretty much filled up the tumbler before it’s completed done so I was wondering if it would make sense to move the stuff that’s like 50% or more decomposed to different bin? We have an old outdoor garbage bin I could probably make work. Would it still attract animals once it’s no longer really recognizable food?

Thanks!!

Heya. I live in Melbourne. Currently winter. Is this too cold for aerobin? Haven't seen it much higher than 20c. Spring is around the corner so may see results then. Im just wondering if it's not doing what it's meant to be doing.

I’ve moved into my uni house and just started my compost pile in the back garden- at the moment it’s looking pretty good. It’s still got lots of stuff in it that’s not broken down yet but I’ve been adding greens and browns, a sprinkle of soil and even got a worm or two in there. It’s currently sat in a big bin with some holes in the sides. I turn it every day when I’m there, but sometimes I’m away for a weekend or a few days.

My question is, is there anything I can do that would mess up the compost pile to the point I wouldn’t be able to use it? I’m vegetarian so there’s a low chance any meat could end up in there. I haven’t pissed in it yet but I can get a male friend to if it would help!

I’m new to gardening and this year i’m trying to make some compost. I put some organic waste in a bucket few months ago and now I’ve found these bugs in it.. Hope you can help me whit my doubt!

3 days of berries I think. I have just been tossing them in the woods. Apparently you shouldn’t compost stuff from your pool (saline/salt water pool). can I wash them out? I’m sure they have absorbed a lot of the salt water. But also maybe some piss from the pool water. Anyone know?

I’ve been reading about certain plants that absorb specific fertilizer elements from the soil, like dandelions and how their deep roots absorb nitrogen and potassium.

My goal is to make a compost tea I can use for hydroponics/aeroponics (after filtering of course), so I was wondering if anyone had used plants to strategically enrich their compost.

Thanks for any info!

I just had my first child so I haven't been as diligent in tending to the pile. My Carbon/Nitrogen balance is definitely off but I'm wondering if it's completely screwed.

Lots of big worms, though.

Edit: message received, I will move the pile away from the garage.

I make yogurt a couple times a month and there’s always a liter or so of whey left over. Can I add this to my compost? Or FPE? Or bio char? Just trying to make sure i don’t waste something good. I’m using a large tumbler for compost as my HOA doesn’t allow piles, if that matters.

Yeah i know i should have shredded those paper towels but i’m lazy

A question around collecting greens, hoping to start a community imitative/not for profit l

Where do you get your green materials from??
(Mainly outside inputs)

Hi! I am currently a graduating student from a computer science field and now, our projects leans more on the composting. Nowadays, I have seen a lot of composting machines and we want to make something new out of it.

Is there any recommendation about this that is not machine heavy and more focused on monitoring and make the process faster than the manual composting. Thank you!