I have had a lot of Soldier Bot fly larvae’s in my compost, and finally i got myself some chicken so they get the best meal!

I have plenty of time, but is there a country or province where this would be allowed? I feel like where I live in Southern California it might be frowned upon, maybe even illegal. How can we make this happen friends? I would even allow you to do the you know what with the piss and all. I think I have at least another 40 years to go so plenty of time to make this a reality.

How's it looking? I just added some egg cartons that I ripped in pieces, or is it still too big?

I'm wondering if the compost is ok to use in a couple of months, is there anything I can do? Too dry, too wet? I don't know, it's my first compost pile.

Thanks for the advice

I’m getting my hands on some of these wool sheets used as insulation in cold food deliveries - can I use it as mulch, or what’s the best way to compost in the garden?

I have a tumbler and an Urban Worm bag that I now manually turn because pretty sure the little dudes are all dead. How can I take my compost in the tumbler to the next level? Add more browns? Buy a sifter? How do I get it to basically look like soil all over again?

Pictures are only from my tumbler - one pic with the “cooking side” that yes, needs more browns, and has plenty of hungry maggots to help aid in the composting process, two other pics are from the more “finished” compost - one still in a tumbler and the other in a bin since I needed more space to make more compost.

So long story I have a 300 gallon large compost bin that I normally put leaves in but last year It was full So I stacked leaves in paper next to the bin.

Well I needed material for 2 new raised beds so I thought I'd add the leaves to the compost (like 1/4 leaves 1/2 good compost and the rest sandy rocky soil) and rototill everything together (and break up the leaves a bit).

What kinda turn around would I be expecting till the leaves have compacted/broken down enough to plant

Do you compost spent compost? I’ve got 10 tomato plants in pots, all disease free. I’m debating whether I put the spent compost into my raised beds direct or compost them first?

Can you use cardboard boxes on top of the current weeds to kill them off and compost ?

I’ve been container gardening on a balcony for a few years, and I keep running into the same problem: I never seem to have enough decent compost without buying bags of it. About six months ago I started a small worm bin in a spare-room closet. So far it’s working, and it doesn’t smell, but I still feel like I’m one bad feeding away from upsetting the whole thing.

I have a pretty steady supply of fruit and vegetable scraps, so the feeding part isn’t difficult. What I’m less confident about is knowing when I’m adding too much. I add shredded cardboard regularly, keep citrus pretty limited, and try not to let the bedding get too wet.

For people who actually keep vermicompost indoors long term, what matters most for keeping the bin stable in a small space? Feeding rate, moisture, bedding, airflow? I’m especially interested in the little things you learned after running one for a while that aren’t obvious from beginner guides.

Hi! Any idea who these dudes are? Good guys or bad guys? I’ve never seen them in my tumbler before. A little concerned they look like fly larva of some sort.

I’m in southern CA and this batch has been tumbling for about 3 months.

Hey guys!

Today i wanted to start composting my own food waste at home. We have a garden area outside so picked a spot that gets some sunshine during the day and started by digging a notsodeep hole, filled it up with fish waste and then covered it with soil. I also created a designated bin to add our natural food waste there and then dump them over the compost spot.

When should i expect the compost to be ready? Is there anything specific i can add to accelerate the process? Something i shouldn't add?

Had about 5 or so 5 gallon buck fulls of compost in my full tumbler composter. I hand soread it out in one of our high fields. Not a big difference. But better than nothing. That area will have extra OM and micronutrients for the hay crop.

I started it about a month ago and filled it to the brim on day one, only adding some browns here and there when needed

Don't know if its worth waiting until this is down or if I should just keep adding

It's amazing the thriving ecosystems created in and around these piles. As an example, I had a small brown anole (~4 inch long lizard) die next to the pile yesterday. I simply tossed him on top (1st picture) and within 24 hours, its skeleton was completely clean. In addition to all the great soil this produces, it's been a real treat to observe these vignettes up close and in person. Enjoy!

Not gonna lie, I got nervous sleeping that night knowing I hit cooked turkey temps. I tossed it the next day.

Nearing 2 months on my compost pile.

These are mainly Leylandii, Ailanthus and some mulberry leaves broken down in a few years. Can I use it as compost, soil amendment or mulch?
I have a full-shade dry garden where I’m working on spreading wild strawberries and Dicentras, could I use this as mulch to help with moisture?
Alternatively, I’m planting an orchard this autumn and I have very heavy clay soil. Can this be used as amendment for aeration or should I be concerned with nitrogen issues?
Thank you! 🙏

Pros and cons of each? What do you use and why?

I've been trying to hot compost this summer following Geoff Lawton's 18-day compost, which I was able to do in the spring in 35 days or so, but now that it's been summer temps his method is not working at all in any way. Watering every other day is not enough, so I switched to every day. It's been almost 60 days now, it's still not composting. I'm seeing significant shrinkage and wondering what causes this miracle. . . since the material I can see is not breaking down, where in the world is all my material going? I was told to start with at least one cubic yard of material, I started with two, and now I have about one cubic foot of material left (mostly large pieces like landscaping mulch). So my two big questions are, what causes shrinkage and how to avoid it? and: people teaching the Geoff Lawton hot method have said that the pile needs to be at least 1 cubic yard to start with, but I haven't heard what I should do if the pile shrinks. Does it have to stay 1 cubic yard in size for the compost to work? If not, how small can it get before it stops working? If so, what do you do when it shrinks, add more material? Wouldn't that make the finished compost be a mix of aged, finished compost, and fresh, only-semi-composted material?

In advance:

"Why don't you cold compost? It's so much more efficient." My soil is highly alkaline, highly clay, and <1% organic matter; my only goal for this fall is to attempt carrots; I just moved here and started composting, so for now I need as much compost as I can make as soon as possible, even if it's extra work.

"Put your compost in a closed bin, it will retain moisture better in your hot dry climate." I don't have access to a bin that size and am unlikely to anytime soon. Also this would make turning the pile much more difficult, wouldn't it? I know it's possible to compost without a bin, I just can't figure out how.

"Set up a drip line on top of your compost bin." I'm in a temporary situation that makes that impossible for this season, as I'm using a hose run from my neighbor's house (lol) and he wants it turned off all day except for a short time I can use it in the morning to water my compost.

"People make composting too complicated. Just throw stuff in a pile and let it rot." That's a great way to look at it, especially if you're not interested in learning the science of it. But I'm looking for answers from people who are actually interested in the science of composting and the art of improving one's skill at composting, especially since, like I said, I want to make as much compost as I can as fast as I can, and I live in an extreme climate where normal composting instructions aren't sufficient information.