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A couple questions about my compost piles (plural) if you will.

How often do you water them? I've noticed that with all the heavy rain I've
been getting lately that the clippings have composted rather quickly and
into some rather nice soil. All that makes me wonder if I'm not watering
the piles enough - as in I don't letting rain do that. I do turn my compost
piles, that's why I have two.


I have a bucket in the kitchen for scraps, so I add at least a
couple of litres (equals a half gallon) before I dump it in to
one compost bin, about every two days.

The other bin - full and aging - gets about the same.

Often, I will use urine instead of water.


How long would you expect a tree branch to take to degrade? Normally I
don't put wood in with my compost, but the occasional fallen limb (less than
3/4" diameter) makes it in there. But some of those limbs have been in
there for a couple years without any outward indication of decomposition -
even when surrounded by fully decomposted grass, dandilions, and shrubs.


It is important to chop limbs and branches into smaller pieces.
That makes more surface area to the material. Also, some of
those pieces can end up being included when I mix the compost
into my beds, and it isn't a problem (like a whole branch would
be.)


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