I had the not-so-bright idea of piling only kitchen scraps into the compost bin over the winter, thinking I'd add brown materials again once spring came. As you'd expect, it's turned into a anaerobic mess. I'm wondering if it's still salvageable or if I should just dispose of it. My plan was to let it dry out in the sun, then mix it back into the bin with thick layers of dried leaves.
by Scared_Ad_7617
10 Comments
Yes it can be saved. Your plan makes sense but you might also want to add a little bit of fresh green stuff to get things going. This will have lost some nitrogen and might cook slow when mixed with heavy browns. But you can totally still compost it.
Just add browns and keep it rolling. I frequently have a mess like this to add to my pile, it takes me several months to fill my 5gal kitchen waste bucket. I just dump it in the big pile, add some browns, and chop/mix with a shovel. It all becomes soil eventually.
Of course! Just need to get it cooking. Add a bunch of browns and some greens. Make sure its sitting in the sun. Turn it every couple days to make sure it doesnt get too hot.
I don’t say this often, but add less pee.
Nature is a wonderful thing……
Sure. Add it to the heap, if you have one. Otherwise start a heap with it – add browns.
This feels like it needs NSFW haha.
But yes you can definitely turn it around. Mix in a heavy amount of browns and turn it more frequently while it gets back to a more normal state. I usually get the spring goop pile after winter too even when I add browns with the winter greens. I think because it all heats up and breaks down at the same time it just turns to mush, especially if you’re using smaller bins. You got this mate!
Mine always looks like this fresh out of the tumbler. I put it in a corner of the yard and mix with brown leaves and it always works out in the end.
To answer your question yes you can. Answer this question, why would you want to save it, and not just start over. Things go anaerobic when they’re too wet and no air. Change how you do your pile, check out some YouTube videos. Watch several of them as there’s conflicting information. Use the common information. Discard the outlier information.
I wouldn’t bother drying it. If you’re browns go in dry they’ll wick moisture away anyhow. Definitely will compost fine and get the stink out if you just go browns for a while.