Another person hooked by all the bogus composting info out there.

I defy anyone to pile damp organic material in the weather and not have
it rot.
You don't need a bin or any other kind of container.
If you want a hot compost you will need about 1 cu yd of material or
more per batch.
Mixing the ingrediants works better than layering.
Wetting them before piling works better than trying to wet the pile
after.
The smaller the pieces the faster the bacteria can go to work because
there is more surface area. ( run em over with a mower)
You can fine tune by feel or by smell, too much carbon and the pile
stays colder, too much nitrogen and the pile outgasses ammonia.
Optimum is 30-1 carbon to nitrogen ( there are whole books on this lol)
You turn the pile when the initial heat drops off to put the outside
parts towards the center.
It's done when it cools and leaves no longer look like leaves and horse
turds no longer look like horse turds etc
..
Now I am sure if you open a copy of " Martha Stewart Lying" you can
find a gold vermeil compost turner and autographed green wellies if
that's your bent but you don't need em.

Don't put sick or diseased plant parts in your compost ( except as
ashes)
And if you feel the need to compost very seedy weeds save that compost
in a seperate pile for areas deep in the shade where they can't grow
anyway.


We were the wierdos composting in the 1950's because as my Dad used to
say , "you can't just take from the soil, you have to put back"