compost bin not composting

[Anonymous]

I started a compost bin about 5 years ago and have only recently opened the bottom doors to dig out the compost. Most of what I am seeing has lots of uncomposted material- mostly pumpkin seeds but also some egg shells and lots of solid twigs and branches. I'm seeing lots of worms and bugs in the dirt. I don't do a great job of turning the compost or keeping it wet during hot dry stretches of the summer. Is that the problem or is there something else I could be doing? should I order more worms (I might anyways since it's fun to get those in the mail

[Anonymous]

egg shells and woody material like pumpkin seeds and actual wood twigs take forever to compost down.Personally, I do not compost wood for this reason. Other than mixing regularly to aerate, give water and making sure your ratio of "greens to browns" is fine, your pile should be fine. That there are worms in it is good, though it suggests your pile is not getting warm enough to speed up the process. Mixing regularly and appropriate browns/greens ratio should increase the temp.

[Anonymous]

thanks! are pumpkin seeds still viable after a few years in a compost bin? is it just the fibrous hull that I'm seeing? some are obviously the hull only but some are still intact. I'm really hoping I didn't sow 100s of new pumpkin vines.

[Anonymous]

it just takes time to decompose. have you seen "walking dead" show? some of them were dead decades ago and still look pretty good

[Anonymous]

I have the same problem OP. I put some cabbage in there after St Patricks Day. I can still see it...totally green even. Last year I still used it even though it was not the lovely brown perfect dirt it was supposed to be. I mixd the somewhat leafy kind of lumpy product in to other soil and hoped for the best. I am happy to reduce what I toss even if it is not producing perfect dirt. I use a spinning bin so no worms...

[Anonymous]

I have a couple bins, different types. The biggest tips I will say is:
-make sure what you're putting in is in small pieces as possible (not always possible but it helps to break down). That said, some things just take longer. For egg shells I try to grind them down to bits and then it doesn't really matter if it goes in to the soil.
-water, water, water!!!! Compost needs moisture to help break things down. Plus, if it's too dry you'll get ants and bugs and things in it. When I keep it nice and moist, esp in the heat, things break down much more nicely.
-In theory if you have the room (I don't) you shoudl have a working pile that you're throwing things into, one that is actively "cooking" and one that you're drawing from. We have two, so not perfect. But one is usually in the more active part of cooking and the other we are drawing form. I also use the partially Cooked pile for things (using the Hugelkultur idea), putting it in my raised beds and even the larger pots.


GL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have the same problem OP. I put some cabbage in there after St Patricks Day. I can still see it...totally green even. Last year I still used it even though it was not the lovely brown perfect dirt it was supposed to be. I mixd the somewhat leafy kind of lumpy product in to other soil and hoped for the best. I am happy to reduce what I toss even if it is not producing perfect dirt. I use a spinning bin so no worms...

In my experience - those tumblers don't really work for average person. In order to get compost out to them you need to chop down everything to small bits and keep proper green/brown/water ratio which is kind of impossible for kitchen scraps. In addition - for compost to properly cook - volume is important, especially during winter time. tumblers usually just not big enough to stay warm inside.