this is the first year I tried to get compost going quickly. Usually, I turn
in about 1 month in, and use it about a month after that as mulch!

This year, I came into a lot of organics all at once, so was able to build 2
piles right away! And BIG ones, about 6' tall, and in 6' diameter steel wire
enclosures.

one more thing I did, that i never did before, is to install right in the
center of each stack, a 2" pvc pipe, that i drilled 3/8" holes in, about every
6" around the pipe.
The pipe is good for 2 things. First, it keeps a good, fresh supply of air to
the core of the pile. Second, it is VERY easy to test the temperature--I just
drop an old candy thermometer on the end of a string into the pile to test the
temp.

Another thing I did, was instead of watering it like normal, while building, I
made sort of a slurry of nice, fresh hog manure from a buddy. I had mostly
carbon based stuff (some old straw bales left over from last halloween!), some
veggie scraps, but kind of layered the straw with fresh grass clippings from my
mower with a collection bag on it.

I'll tell you, it topped and stayed at 160 degrees for about 3 days. I turned
the piles, they topped at 160 again., but by then had reduced in volume that
when I turned them again, they topped at 160 again--after I combined them.

When I turned it last, it topped out at 120, so I think I'm getting close to
finished with this batch.

I think the trick is SURFACE AREA. The bacteria cannot enter throught tough
veggie skins, branches, bark, and stuff like that.

The mower with collector did a fine job on the lawn clippings--especially the
leaves I didn't get around to raking last fall! The straw I didn't worry so
much about--sort of shook it loose and airy. My hedge trimmings (and there
were plenty of those in the pile) were cut up into smaller pieces. I used a
lopper on bigger chuncks, to cut them down to short lengths, and the smaller
ones with a hand shears. most likely they won't break down durning this run,
but will help innoculate the next one.

Also, I added as much kitchen waste as possible. but this time i used an old
clunker of a blender from a resale shop to grind it up. It's kind of a nasty
process, but seems to help really get the pile going. I add my egg shells,
veggie peelings, rotten veggies, stuff that I get from the local produce
place.... and I cube them up, add some water, then set it to "pulse" to blend
it up into a nasty looking sludge.

Then I use a turning fork (the best investment I ever made), open the pile
about a foot deep, then dump it in and cover it back up with working compost.

no smell, no bugs, no sweat!

If you get to it, chekc out "let it rot"--the ultimate guide to composint!

Later
John