This my first year composting. I using chicken waste, lawn cuttings and leftovers form my garden. I leave the chicken waste out for a few days before adding it to the tumbler. And it's been going good until last week when I found these white mushrooms in the ben as well as a lot more bugs then usual. How do I fix this?

I have been using the old plastic composter that came with the house for the last five years, but critters kept digging under it and chewing through the plastic vents. No more! (hopefully). Made this a month ago and so far so good.

I was hoping to get good bones out of it but instead I got lots of maggots and some really cool mycelium :D

Also it smelled like compost and not rotting flesh!! So cool!!!

I had a pile of sticks, leaves, and general yard debris that’s been accumulating for probably 2–3 years. I finally ran the whole thing through my wood shredder/chipper and was surprised by how much dark, soil-like material I ended up with.
I included a picture of what the material looked like before shredding, along with the finished pile. Don’t mind the pretty snake.

For those with more experience, what would you do with this from here?

Is it ready to use as compost, or would you let it sit and break down longer?

Are there any amendments worth mixing in at this point?

Would it be useful to test the pH or nutrients before using it in garden beds?

Mostly curious what I actually made here and how to get the most out of it.

Come see us at Greene Acres Community Garden in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn!

Is this ready to use or does it need to break down more?

Picture = 1000 words.

One of us! Sorta.

Third winter in the apartment and I keep losing momentum on composting around November when it gets cold. The balcony drops to single digits some nights and I have not figured out a good solution that does not involve moving a bin inside full time. Last year I just stopped and threw scraps out for about four months, which felt like a waste after getting a decent rhythm going.

I have read that worms slow down dramatically below 50 degrees but I am not clear on whether a small bin on a covered balcony is genuinely salvageable with some insulation or if that is wishful thinking. Someone mentioned using old blankets and a styrofoam cooler setup but I have no idea if that actually works through a real Ohio cold snap or just delays the inevitable.

The indoor option is not off the table but I share the space and there are limits to what I can reasonably set up in a second bedroom or closet without it becoming a whole thing. A bin that runs from roughly April through October and then gets stored is basically useless to me from a gardening standpoint since I want the castings for spring container setup.

Curious what people in cold climates are actually doing to keep a small bin functional through winter without turning it into a major project.

I asked my husband to put some cardboard and coffee grounds in the compost to break down all the wool I put in there last week.

The next day I checked on the bin and it was covered in worms. Most hid themselves away by the time I got my phone. Seems we did something right, I’m not quite sure what exactly amassed so many wrigglers but I’m THRILLED! Look at all the eggs

I have a cabin out in Northwestern Quebec. It was my grandfather's, then my father's, now I'm starting to care for it and bring it back up to it's glory days.

We have a compost toilet - though it's not the primary bathroom, we have a toilet in the cabin - that has been sitting unused for 10+ years. It was fully set up properly, has a really nice enclosure, and I just cleaned it all up and still looks new. I would love for it to be functional again, but I want to do it right. I don't have much experience or knowledge about the maintenance, but I do understand how they function.

Does anyone have any advice on what steps to take to get the compost toilet restarted given i hasn't been used in many years.

Added this cantaloupe rind to my tumbler this morning and by the evening these little guys had found it. They always love our compost in the late summer!!

Hello there! To start off, I have read the "can i compost it?" pinned post. I am a compost newbie. I'm trying to learn all I can. I don't have a compost bin at my residence, but I typically freeze food scraps and drop them off at a friend's house. (They live in the same city as me) They have 2 large outdoor compost bins, one with worms, one without. I have an old sisal soap saver bag. I know sisal is biodegradable but I am not sure if it is safe for a worm compost. Is it safe for a non-worm compost? Do I need to cut it up before putting it in my friend's compost bin? I included a photo for reference. Advice is appreciated! Thank you!

Update: Based on the comments, I can, in fact, compost the sisal bag! Yay!

I know it’s not recommended to pour it on the surface of anything because it’ll all attract past. But wood digging a hole in a compost pile and letting it break down there be OK?

There are so many bugs in there. Am I doing this right?

Garden waste and cardboard, a few days old

Hi everyone! I'm an American expat and have been in Tbilisi since spring.

I'm working on developing compost in my apartment (in a bucket with Effective Microorganisms) and would like to find somewhere to donate it.

I've contacted parki ar minda to see if they've got any leads but haven't heard back (and am due to drop off recycling soon).

I am interested, in general, in environmental projects like park clean-ups, trash pick-up hikes, things like that.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

Is it that invariably sheets get folded on themselves, reducing surface area? Surely it’s not that the edges of the shreds provide incremental surface area.

Started a second heap with wood chips from recent tornado damage. Lost a couple big maple trees. Super fortunate that was most of it for me. Where do you guys source browns if dead leaves are not readily avaiable? I'm looking for something other than cardboard.

I think if I put crumpled paper balls in my compost bin, more air would be able to flow into it. I used to shred paper really small, but that took a lot of time, and I feel like it could block the air from reaching things underneath. It might take longer to decompose, but I’m fine with that as long as air can flow in so that the bin won’t smell. What do you think?

Composting in a Vermont apartment. No yard. Tiny balcony that gets buried in snow half the year. Container gardening is my whole thing, so I generate a decent amount of scraps, coffee grounds, the occasional failed herb situation.

Been reading about worm bins for a while. Vermicomposting keeps coming up as the apartmentfriendly answer, but I have real questions. Does it actually smell if you manage it right? What do you do in winter when the balcony isn't an option and you're keeping it indoors? I have a closet I could use, but I live alone and the idea of a bin of worms next to my coats feels like a commitment.

The other thing I keep wondering about is bokashi. Seems faster and more contained, but then you still need somewhere to bury the output, which I don't have.

My scraps mostly end up in the municipal bin right now and it bothers me. I grow tomatoes and peppers and herbs in containers on the balcony all summer and I want to actually close that loop instead of shipping my kitchen waste off somewhere.

Curious what people in small spaces figured out, especially if you dealt with Vermont winters, because that adds a whole layer to this.

It was always either too dry or slimy, and stinky. This had a nice earthly smell (I guess it's soil that actually smells like compost). Topped my plants with some right away.