Hello! I moved into my place 4 years ago and it had this already fairly established compost bin. I mainly left it be, occasionally adding cardboard or grass clippings. Trying to take better care of it now but I've no idea what I'm doing really. I went in the 'bottom' and pulled some of the stuff out and put it in the black bucket, my aim was to 'turn it' by adding this bottom stuff back into the top. But a lot of it is looking quite soily already although lots of sticks and bits and gravel. Long story short, I'm feeling a bit lost about what to do next; should I add the bottom stuff back to the too as I originally planned? Is it looking good? Help!
It looks quite soily at the top because I recently emptied some old plant pots into there. In the middle is a load of undigested cardboard because I thought it needed more brown at some point (but I honestly have no idea what I'm doing!).
Tips?
Thank you in advance!!
by Peanutbutterpigs
6 Comments
That rich black soil in the second image looks ready to use.
these kind of bins don’t require you to open that bottom door until it’s full and you’re ready to use the finished compost. you layer your browns and greens or just chuck whatever in there at the top, wet it if it’s looking too dry and you can turn it using a metal compost aerator or just grab a stick you might have lying around. after afew months you might find some worms from the ground popping up and you should be able to harvest the finished compost at that bottom door as you need it, chucking in the top anything you personally think needs some extra time to go down
This looks similar to the Orbis Earth Machine composter that I have. For that model, the idea is that the finished compost can be removed from the bottom door. They have a home composting guide to help users on how to use that style bin: https://www.orbiscorporation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/NPL-400-Eath-Machine-Assembly-Instructions.pdf
I’m somewhat new to composting so I couldn’t give many tips on the how-tos of composting, but I would say that you want to turn it somewhat regularly. I have a wasp nest in mine now but I think if I turned it more I could have prevented that from happening. I’m still able to add scraps but I’ve been too scared to try to dump soapy water on it or anything so I plan on just waiting until the nest dies in the winter.
This is a great video on composting.
https://youtu.be/jTHUalsT8sQ?si=aNfSuIeA5TmymIK0
Good, equal blend of Carbons and Nitrogens (explained in the video), and keep it moist, not wet.
Some simple advice:
-keep it lightly moist
-add in material no bigger than 6in in length
-keep very roughly a mix of 1:1 green/brown materials
-keep in sunnier location for higher inside temp
-higher inside temp leads to faster breakdown but keep moist
-the stuff you harvested looks quite dry, consider adding water and fluffing by hand then adding back to bin to reinoculate try harvesting fresh batch in a month
Pee on it to claim it as yours now.