"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
news:48f286ab$0$10585$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-

You didn't say what these bins look like or how they operate.

I have the Gedye bins - the one that look like squat post office
letterboxes - but with just a lid, no drawers.

For some reason, they do tend to dry out. I'm living in Melbourne. The area
I located the bins gets full sun - including a full blast from the West.

We have a large compost pile with fencing - bad idea I think - that one has
problems as it dries out too easily and a lot of the stuff turns straw
like - esp. the stalks of plants; and does not decompose.

The main problem with that section is that the compost worms die. You see
them desperately trying to crawl out of the bin in Summer and getting fried.

(I relocated the compost worm bin - also a Gedye - to a shady spot)
Hopefully that will help. But my garden is too big and needs about 4 compost
bins.





For example, I have 2 of the 'upside down' Gedye bins - the ones with no
base and the lid on them. They operate anaerobically and one fills them
up till they are about 80% full and then leave them for a while. These
bins are ideal for kitchen scrap and they never, in my experience, need
the addition of any liquid. both mine sit in full sun for most of the day
and there is no problem with them.

The other 2 mobile bins I have are the ones on a central axle that tumble.
They too sit in full sun but are a bit more problemmatic. They do dry out
more easily but still work.

I tried the open concept - but the compost invariably dries up and does
not decompose. Doesn't work so well.

I don't make good compost from big piles either, but then I don't have the
strength to turn them anymore and thus they do what your's have done, dry
out and although everything eventually rots - it's not what I'd call real
compost.