I clipped 1/4” mesh over my wheel barrel. Worked nicely! Got about 3 loads worth over a year. But those roots are nuisance. Any ideas? Is this the best I can do?

I've been throwing grass clippings and leaves into this pile in my yard for years. Recently got into chickens and that's where I throw old straw from the coop. Is this technically a compost pile already?

I did a lot of shredding over the last couple of days and wanted to share. We went to IKEA for a couple of cabinets; my girlfriend is happy with those, and I was happy I had a lot to shred.

My shredder does not have multicut, so I have to prep the cardboard a bit more than most people. My shredder is a P-1 18-sheet shredder that cuts long strips from anything I feed into it. I wanted smaller bits that do not get tangled in my tumbler, so I cut the cardboard in a zig-zag motion before feeding it into the shredder. The shredder then cuts it into finer pieces.

It is a bit of work, but it is mind-soothing at the same time. In the end, I had two full Klämtare boxes (around 70 liters each) and my shredder is also partially full. I hope it is enough for the next couple of months, but it really depends on how many Halloween pumpkins I can get.

It will all be composted in my Joraform JK270.

(foto para no ser ignorado)

Una pregunta ❓

Existe alguna alternativa o forma de procesar las heces humanas para crear composta y luego eso agregar a las planas (milpa) para hacer apto para consumo humano.

Soy un joven que quiere hacer un experimento que pueda procesar y aprovechar los nutrientes para hacer, composta y tener mejor resultados en la siembra y quiero saber que tan apto para el consumo es.quiero bajar la contaminación de un cierto lugar.si tienen otra alternativa me será de ayuda

I heard a guy on YouTube say if you gag your grass clippings and let them dry out, the grass turns a straw color and can then be considered as a source of carbon.
He said the green in the leaf was where the nitrogen was stored.

I have no trees around me for leaf litter, so this kind of a big deal for me. I was wondering if anybody else ever heard this advice?

I think it does, right... right? Call me weird, but HEY! I've been composting for some time now and the party in my bin has been going on for quite a lot. They had a ton of food variety, coffees, moonshine and I even change their matrasses monthly (high quality triple layered cardboard that is). They even had occasional full plate leftover feasts.

Lately, whenever I turn a fork in that bin, you could literally hear the noise from their little feet running back inside. Thousands of isopods have thrived in this wooden box. To the naked eye, this simply looks like garbage, but TO THEM.. it's a 5 star all inclusive hotel.

Now I had my focus elsewhere (a pond maybe?)...and treated this like a natural process: Misses made stew, a big bowl of peeled leftovers, I took them to the bin .. poof.. gone. Didn't care. But when autumn hit hard with rainy days and cold winds.. the garden slowly went into hibernation mode. Not them tho' and here comes my story..

Thank you for the positive welcome in my last post here. I hope you guys enjoy the video of my story too.. but.. am I crazy for digging a mine in my compost bin? AM I CRAZY for throwing about 5 years of wet potties in it.. oh wait.. dang.. now.. now I have second thoughts... oh well, I guess now it's too late.

I sought help a while back on here about composting chicken manure and I’m getting to use the second batch this fall. A third batch is currently aging

My 6 month old compost pile vs the chips from the trees I had cut down a day ago.

I've been composting for three years, have read about microbiological hazards of it, and this is the first time I've read about a microbe that has made me reassess my personal risk level. The part about otherwise healthy, non-immunocompromised individuals falling ill, with a 70% mortality rate, is worrisome. Will probably start masking up when working with it, and possibly stop altogether. Interested in this community's thoughts.

Wondering how high a page shredder should I get to shred the boxes that produce comes in for restaurants? Am I ok to use a 14-16 page shredder or should I go higher?

Bonjour, quelqu'un a entendu parler du bocashi aérobie(genre "aérobocashi" dans google)? cette technique qui permet de composter en 3 semaines max au lieu de 3 mois?

I have an old bag of lawn fertilizer, and was wondering if it could be added to my compost heap, and if so, how best to add it?

Just moved to my new place and I'm getting things set up. Almost made the error of getting straw laced with herbicide aminopyralid. The straw I'm Now using is good. Be careful out there. I decided not to treat the wood I used for my bin since I figure I'll rot before it does. Poking stick for scale.

... more compostable trash!

I just open one of my compost bins, the one farthest along, it looks like something's been digging holes in my compost. Who do we think it is?

Started one year ago. Was above 40C whole winter, then added worms in late spring. Keeped hot-composting in my second insulated bin. And added that through the year. Was 4 wheel barrows of compost. More then enough for my small garden.

I swear I have compost OCD 😂 Whenever I see organic material that could be composted going to waste, I get this feeling that I’m missing out on a valuable resource and that I need to find a destination for it. I can’t help thinking about all the potential compost that could be made!

So, naturally, I’ve started looking at a pile of grass clippings and leaves next to the sanctuary in my town in Portugal and wondering whether I could turn it into a small business.

I’ll attach some pictures of the pile. The idea would be to collect this material, transport it to a piece of land I have elsewhere, and turn it into compost to sell.

I’m curious about a few things:

Scale: Can you estimate how much material is there from the pictures, and how much finished compost it could produce? How much material would I need to make this commercially worthwhile?

Practicalities: What infrastructure and equipment would I need to get started on a small scale? Would grass clippings and leaves be enough, or would I need other inputs? I’d probably need to stockpile leaves in autumn to balance out the grass clippings generated during spring and summer.

Regulations: How complicated is it to produce and sell compost legally in Portugal or elsewhere in the EU? What permits, testing or certifications might be required?

Safety: Would I need to know whether fertilisers, herbicides or other chemicals are used on the grass?

Business viability: Has anyone actually built a small business around collecting green waste and turning it into compost? Is it possible to make money from this after accounting for transport, labour, processing, packaging and sales?
I’ve also been thinking about producing biochar from wood and mixing it with the compost to create a more specialised soil amendment for home gardeners.

This could fit into a broader business idea I’ve been exploring: a gardening brand focused on carefully selected tools and products for people who take gardening seriously. I’d love to know whether this could become a viable product line rather than just an expensive way of indulging my compost obsession. 😅

Has anyone here done something similar? Am I onto something, or am I underestimating the challenges involved?

Thought I'd crosspost this here as well to see if any of you have been dealing with this. TY!

I'm a deep lurker on this sub. For almost 5 years I've been running this slow maintenance (medium size?) compost pile out of necessity. When I decided this would be home to my family, the terrain had a lot of overgrowth. There was so much garden waste not even the city wanted it. So I had to come up with a solution..

I knew little about composting, but somehow I've built a perfect home for these little helper guys.. isopods. Today.. they are thousands. Whenever I scoop a full fork, you could literally hear them running back inside. In about 1 month whatever I drop and tumble in that pile will slowly disappear. What looks like a pile of garbage to some, to them is a first class all inclusive hotel. Now they're my neighbours. I feed them, in return they help grow the greens that feed my family.

There is so much joy in this process. I think this natural connection is deeply rooted in us, we somehow forget about it. Like it runs as a background process that we do not know about. Yet simple enough.. there is so much fulfillment in running a compost pile.

Sorry for the long post. Simply wanted to share.

It seems that composting takes a bit of labor and expense, and I'm short on both .

I'm really limited to strength and time. And I don't wanna pay big money to set up a compost, and then maintain it.

It's just me and a small garden, so one of those spinning ones would work well. But the cost is crazy.

I'm trying just a bin and it takes me almost half year to fill it with food and pine needles and twigs.

And then when it's full, do I have to grind it to the fine mix powder?

How do I do that?

I can chop with an axe and cut up pieces, but it's a lot of work and it's still not ground fine.

Now I see there's and mold built up.

I have drainage holes but I guess nit enough. But it rains almost daily.

Did you ever try to drill in the side of those black bins with yellow lids!? Crazy strong!

Now I see there's infestation I think fire ants, which are loaded in my front yard, so I don't wanna start bringing them around to the backyard.

So I can't go near the thing.

I have red ants and big carpenters type ants, but these look like the fire ants.

But either way, Do I need to toss this start up compost in the trash?

Or if I continue, whats a good, cheap way to grind it up fine?

And then how do I know I did it right because I'm learning.you have to get the right ratio with fertilizers, or it screws everything up.

I added a little store bought compost /manure to some tomato seedlings, and they wilted.

So ...I am compost lost. .in Central Southeast Florida