To answer the best I can hoa today I got 2 1/2 bags of green lawn clippings from my landlord. It's the last mowing of the season so I took the largest bag over to the compost pile and spread it over the top of the entire thing. The I got the pitch fork and broke the pile up and then piled it back up so the new green is mixed in with everything else. And I did my best to get the pile 3 feet by 3 feet so that the center will get good and hot and quicken the decomposing. It still is getting warmish here during the day so there is a chance I can give it a good start on next year if I continue to turn it until it freezes I think. But I am a beginner and Weezie knows lots and lots more than I do.

So today I moved one of the bin under the lilac. I still have one bin left to move. In the new bin I put a lot of long wood sticks sticking out everywhere. I hope instead of turning the pile (which I will not do anymore bcs the weather will be very cold pretty soon), I will shake the sticks to give them some air. I would apprecitate if you guys have any comments so I can correct any error and can also apply to the second bin.

Hoa,
Just remember that the lilac bush will eventually
send it's little feeder roots over to there
to get at that nice dirt, and will get up into
the roots if left too long..

I know from experience they love that stuff...

I accidently put a elderberry bush next to one
too, wowwwwww, did it get a big root over to
that bin....

**And Tammy, for a beginner composter, you sure
are doing an awesome job...keeping up with it,
and making as much compost as you do...

*and if I know more than you, it's only cause my mommy and daddy composted for like all of my life, I was the offical compost dumper *kitchen scraps* my whole life up on the hill.. so, I've been around it for a wee~bit of time....
I've been in love with that black gold an entire life time it seems... I wanted to play in it
when I was little, much to my parents dismay!!!!
And when I would walk out into the woods, and see mother nature doing a humongous job of it...
I'd steal it for my little flower garden I had
when I was a teen...
Can never get enough of that compost...

It has been cold and there are a lot of snow those last 3 days. So I cannot do anything much. I guest I will move everything next year.
Now I will try to do a small batch in the garage, in a 35 gallons garbage can with used coffee, tea, leak and paper? If it will be too smelly even with a good ratio I will put them outside then. Still wandering if it would be OK in a huge carton. I would not consider a bigger garbage can because the delivery for a 45 gallons garbage can cost too much...

What do you mean by a huge carton??
Put the garbage can inside the huge carton,
or put the actual compost into the huge carton?

And what is the huge carton made of?

I have never tried it in the garage, so I would be very interested in your outcome..
My main interest would still be if it froze...

Here, I believe mine still would,
so, I don't do it..
Especially if one rodent were to smell that much
food in a can in a garage, frozen or not, it would be there in a heart beat gnawing at it.

Is your can plastic or metal???

They deliver them???
Are these the one's that like your town or county supplies for recycling????????

Hello Weezie,
- A 45 gallons garbage can is too big to fit into my car. So Home Depot offer delivery service with a fee. The whole thing cost too much for me.
- A carton is a box made of thick paper.
- So the rodents like vegetarian food also, Weezie?

They love grain but will eat anything including your drywall. Ok, maybe they aren't eating your drywall but they will tear it up right along with your insulation and curtains. Mice are very bad to attract to your dwelling and very hard to get rid of.

I think longy did a post on using cardboard cartons he really recommends them so if you have one I would look up that post. I think you will find everything you would want on that one.

Oh boy! Certainly I don't want some mice in the house. I am glad I asked you. Thank you very much, guys, for the warning.

We've had them here chew thru
plastic garbage cans to get to
a bag of birdseed..

If it's a cold enough winter, and too
deep for getting to the lawn underneath,
they'll love a compost pile...

For anyone that has advise on container!! I have enough to start a compose but a small back yard I don't want mice EEEEUUUOOOWWWWW! A metal trash can with holes drilled?? on bottom wouldn't that make it hard to 'turn'? I need to get started this week Hubby wants to throw out everything I've been saving trash day is Thursday!!! Dec 1 Help quick !!!!

Yep, a metal one would work fine....

And don't let the mice talk scare you
Or hubby...
They are everywhere...
and a pile won't attrack them any more or any less, just cause you have one...

but what we're saying is that one shouldn't
start them real close to your house,
because of ALL the factors involved in composting..

One of these days, I have to get to my neighbors house, they have a home made system, where he took a plastic one, and put it up on two posts like and slide a bar thru it and can turn it, like those compost tumblers....
I just haven't trotted over there to take a picture yet...

Wooow! Such a good idea.

Well the compost bin got turned today and a load of leaves got added to the compost pile. That pile has really shrunk. It is amazing how small it has gotten compared to where it started. But not for long evidently one of my landlords neighbors has a bunch of leaves she is getting rid of and I said I'd take all of them lol. Even if it is to much for the grass clippings I have now they will still decompose just slower. My grass clippings are barely getting warm anymore I guess it's just a little to cold but that's ok.

I have a ton of stuff acquired to add to my pile, but it has been raining or too windy for me to go out and be able to work with the pile. Sure hope the wind and rain quits soon!!!!

Here in Montreal, Canada, tonight it's getting warm, but it may rain tomorow. So I will see if I can do anything good between the showers. I really miss the indian summers. I wesh I can have a few more day to work with the compost piles.

Thanks Weezie! I 'll get a metal trash can tomarrow and drill holes I told hubby you said He can't scare me nor the Mice out of having a compose pile so
upon initial layering when should I first "turn" ?

I turn once a week but that's because I'm old and tired. lol

Tk! Old and Tired? You?the official blabbermouth? NAAAAAAAA!!
Well then that's what I'll do as well once a week turn,, I'm excited to get started came home from work with trash can in hand, I drilled holes in the bottom and a few 3 inches from bottom around sides put it up on cinder blocks Hubby promised me he'll cut a 'flapdoor on the side length ways and hinge it on so I can lay it on its side it's larger than 55 gallon . actually I believe the hinged door idea is keeping him from coming out and helping me turn it. Oh well what ever works!!!

When you get it all finished be sure to show us a picture of it Angelblossom.

Angelblossom,
Please keep us posted

I have a couple of those handrakes that I take the top half of the compost out with and then I tip over the can. When it's full I can't tip it over at all lol. You know if your bin is up on centerblocks, you could get a pan and put under it and collect the compost tea that leaks out. That is a great fertilizer from what I've heard. I think it can even be used as a foliar spray? Have to ask Weezie about that sometimes I get mixed up.

It sounds like you have a great set up so far. If your's is metal I'm thinking it is probably silver in color. If you want to you can get some metal spray paint and paint it black. That helps draw more heat to it which is a good thing. Just a thought. It certainly isn't necessary.

I hope your compost brings you as many beautiful plants as it is me.

Check this out..
It's an ad that shows up on the top
for the Google search..

I wish Santa would bring me one..
An indoor composter...

I'm cryin' here...

Wow Weezie...That would be nice to have and it is on sale right now:
Regular price: $450.00 Sale price: $399.00

Well if we wait they will come out with a cheaper model...Soon I hope.

Cheese, I wish we can invent one of our own. It must be something like a slow dryer.
For the moment, I have a lot of carbonated papers; are they any good for our regular compost?

WoW Weezie I don't think Santa would bring me one no matter how good I've been But I sure can get one for my self When Income tax comes back LOLOLOL Seems there could be a way to "Jimmy Rig" one HMMMMMMMM Lets think on this one LOLOL

When I saw it... I was like YEAHHHHHHHHHHH~BABY!!!
Ohhhhhhh, I could use that..
I could use about 4 of them.....
What I wouldn't do just to get ONE ....

It looks really nice and it looks like
a good concept...

Geeeeeeee, wish I could have them send me
one just to test and give my "Weezie Report"

WOW! I WANT ONE! SANTA, ARE YOU LISTENING?

Even though it was freezing outside today, I was able to check on my compost pile, of course it is frozen right now, but has shrunk down and looks good. So I'm pleased with my efforts so far!

AngelBlossom Good ideal bout tax refund to buy one, and I agree...no need for me to ask Santa either. I won't be getting a tax refund, but I will be getting $$$$$$$ from family members instead of gifts, I'm hard to buy for LOL

Glad your pile is looking good. Mine has shrunk quite a bit too. I can't wait to dig underneath it in spring and get all that good stuff working. It's going to be so much fun.

THAT IS ALL THE FUN OF IT....

It pays off and you (almost) forget about
all the work you did putting it in and together...

Well even though it was cold outside, DH was complaining about this pile of stuff I had in the house, I informed him it was for the compost pile, he said well then put it out there, It was shredded paper, cardboard etc, so I thought well ok...So I also had some kitchen scraps that were building up also...I loaded up the wheelbarrow and made a stop by a hay pile to rake up some of the rotted hay that was scattered on the side, and off to the compost pile I went...I couldn't turn the pile but did dig around in it, and added all this new stuff from the wheelbarrow. Pile is rounded up high again. DH ask when I came back in..what have you been doing all this time...I just looked at him and smiled, and said doing what you ask me to do...

I may never have menmtioned this for winter
composting.. when everything is frozen...

When adding your materials..
add them as you would like lasgna's...
brown first, kitchen scrap's, more brown,
green stuff...

Always layer, you won't be able to turn the
pile once frozen and the new stuff will also
freeze in time... so, the layers will be in
place as they thaw come spring time..
and you won't have to worry so much about all green thawing together and turning into a real
slop...

Comfrey... if your DH isn't a gardener, it's
very hard for them to understand piles of piles...
Mine still does not like it..
but he knows it stretches my dirt $$ come seed time, and he knows I don't have to go buy extra stuff for the garden dirt come planting time...
so, he just kinda grumbles to himself now adays...

He'd love that indoor composter, no more zip lock baggies of veggies sitting in the back room,
but I'd be saving for a long time...

Well I think even with the indoor composter...We would still have bags and piles of stuff just waiting its turn to get in the composter LOL. I did layer the new stuff after I stirred the old stuff, and I figured adding the rotted hay would help cover up anything that was loose or interesting to a critter.

Today I went out to turn My new Compost pile What a day for me I guess I'm doing something right I opened the door and my glasses fogged up!! Yipeee it heating up!! only been at it a little over a week I added canadian peat moss today and poured my left over coffee over it> Now My Hubby's in on the action and doesn't throw away eggs shell coffee veggie's or the sunday paper!! thanks everyone for all your help more questions later tho' I'm sure!!!!

Angelblossom...I have found it doesn't take long to train DH's on what not to throw into the trash can, I even went so far as to place a sign on the wall stating the a certain trash can was for compost stuff only...like paper, cardboard etc. I have noticed when other people come over they read the sign and then use the other trash can beside the one marked compost only...they have no clue LOL

That warms the cockles of me heart, dontchya kin....

You know it's one thing when a gardener starts to compost, but when a non~gardening "other~half" starts to do it too.... that's just music to my ears...

Here's my compost, when I'm starting seeds...

Yes I know Comfrey I have a small plastic container in the kitchen that says compost 'scaps' No MILK OR CHEESE PLEASE!!.. My grandsons were over for the weekend after Brkfst sat am My oldest Grnson read the container and just put in his eggs and left over waffles

Angelblossom,
You'll have "FUTURE GARDENER'S" on your hands
in no time....
They'll remember that and when they can will garden too... once the tiniest little seed is
planted... that's all it takes...

Wow weesie cannot wait 'tell mine looks like that!! Does the bottom develope first and do I take out and put in airtight container as it developes??? or wait untill the entire 'lot' is black gold??

I sift it..that's the end product you see in the wheelbarrow..

But in the compost bins, I leave mine alone and start a new one..and let that one work....

Come Spring time, *or fall, I do both*

I sift it in like April when it's all cold outside.. *I have some put in black bags, or big 68 qt containers.. and I sift outside into my wheelbarrows.. then mix in a tiny bit of seed starting mix...*that stuff is really expensive*
I like to do it when it's spring time, still chilly in the air.. can't do any gardening, usually tooo wet and tooo cold yet, so I sift... getting ready and dreamin' big while I sift..
**It is monotonous and tiring, but I LOVE playing with the end result...

did you make a sifter or can they be bought I thought about on old bicycle rim(I once made a fishing net outta one LOLOL) maybe I could somehow attach metal mesh to it> maybe hook like a 18 or 16 gauge wire thru mesh and stick the wire thu holes in rim and put a fishing sinker ball on other side or a strong bead of sort to hold in place on outter rim of rim Heck I dunno any thing to save a buck!! or two!!!

Wow great looking compost Weezie Angelblossom..do a site search or look back through this thread...and look at the sifter that Bill made.

My metal trash can is Full! I started another pile thanks to my GR-Kids telling My daughter to save her 'left-overs' and scrapes for me! and the front side zipps to close. should I remove the plastic? Thanks for any suggestions,, I have been successfull with the can!! Appreciate all your help!

That's great angelblossom!!!

Today it was nice weather and had been warm yesterday, so I talked DH into turning my pile, and even though I started it late, it is breaking down rather nicely.

hey, its already winter here and my lease ends in june, any point in trying to compost before then. i had a bunch of root-filled planters from harvested plants that i emptied into a heap to compost the roots, if i add scraps to it throughout the winter is there a chance they'll do anythign but freeze by may??

Considering the cost of moving stuff I'd wait until I got to the new place. But that's just me. You certainly have time for some of it to turn into compost if it dethaws around late march in your area. Or atleast that's what I'm assuming and we all know about that word lol. Good luck with your move.

Well Weezie is the expert on this but, my opinion is go ahead and start a pile...June is along way off and you may be pleasantly surprised what you end up with.

Bodhigaea,
Add all your stuff now, it may and will freeze,
but if you layer properly come time when it's spring and stuff thaws, it'll start motivatin' right away... and it will be on it's way to breaking down from it freezing and thawing..

You should get about 2 months *theorically*
to start the composting process.... then and when
you move, just baggie it up in Black/Dark Brown garbage bags, and take it to your new place..
*I might load the bag into a plastic garbage can, to hold the shape of the plastic bag and nothing pokes out thru or leaks... in your move*

And keep us posted on how it turns out for you,
we're all composting addicts here and love to hear of your adventures...

It was so warm today...

How warm was it you ask?

It was so warm that I got out there and turned the compost pile. Yeppers I sure did. That must have been my Christmas present from Mother Nature. She let me play in the compost.

I added more stuff to my pile today...I have decided that even though my pile is pretty large, I'm just going to keep adding stuff to it for about 2 more months, Then I will have to find a new place to start another pile. I think I am going to try the pallet method (using them to make the sides for a bin)

Sounds good to me. Hope your project works well for you. I believe the optimum size for a compost pile is 3 X 3 but I don't remember where I read that. So verify the information because my memory is occassionally faulty.

Tammy,
I just wish I could get out and
turn my compost...
You are so very lucky...
*Turn your compost an extra few times
for me will ya!!!*
Mine are frozen solid...

My pile is not frozen either we have had very mild weather so far, my pile was frozen for a few weeks, but that was almost a month ago. I have managed to get mine turned a few times, I have been really sick, but I have tons of new stuff to add to the pile as soon as I feel up to loading it all in the wheelbarrow and adding it.

I added 4 heaping wheelbarrow loads of stuff from my chicken pen....chicken manure, straw & feathers today to my compost pile...It is really big, so have decided that I will start a new pile this coming week, better watch out Weezie I may catch up with you... :p

hehehehe....
Have fun tryin'...
(2 plastic, 3 wooden, 1~twin barreled tumbler..
plus a huge pile I'm workin' on in the back...)

That's alot of compost..

I would love to hear about you getting more bins..
That's always music to my ears when I hear
about people really getting more into composting.

The good part about starting a new pile is that I am going to use pallets to make more bins (see the s on bins..LOL) DH already said if I get the pallets he will secure them together for me, so I am out to hunt pallets this week. Where I plan to put the new bins are right behind the one that is full and there is room to put three side by side besides my big wire bin. All of these are close to my chicken pen also behide a shed out of site and not far from the garden. When the new bins get built I'll post pictures.

Comfrey, I made the mistake of making only two bins at first. I found myself using partially unfinished compost more often than I liked so I added a third pile to the side of my two bins. Much better system IMO.

I have a huge mound of stuff on the back porch...Everywhere that had pallets, seem to all of the sudden have none, So very soon I am going to have to just put it on the ground next to the first bin, there are some small pieces of tin that I can make some sides with to keep it in one place, until I can find some pallets. But I do plan to make at least two bins with them besides the big wire one. John do you have wire on the sides of yours?

When I first starting reading up on composting,
most, if not all, suggest the 3 bin method..
One you are throwing your stuff in, one you are letting rest,
and one you are using the stuff out of it..
That way, you're not still adding to the top, taking out of the bottom, and running into that chance of using not completely composted materials.

But, as I speak with alot of gardener's who would like to or already are into composting... but don't have the space, then, any method to get compost is GOOD...

I recommend the 7 bin method...
and wish I was using the 20 bin method...hehehehehe

Johnnnnnnnnn, great lookin' compost you got there..
You're a man after me own heart dontchya kin!!!!

Yes comfrey. I lined the inside with hardware cloth.


Thanks weezie. I have more rocks than I could possibly ever use. I cannot put a shovel in the ground without hitting a rock!

I need to move to Connecticut...
Here in town, I'm just blessed with nice soil..
*I think it was a farm section (I know there was a barn here) before others moved in and built house's on the street..

You makin' a Rock Garden???????

You're welcome to come and pick up as many as you want! How far are you from Central CT?
Not really, I've saved most of the flat shaped ones that I was going to make a large hosta garden on a large shaded, sloped area of my property. I use the other ones here and there for interest, but most get piled out back.

I have relatives in Easton... and N.J. is that close???

What I wouldn't do for some big rocks like that..
You've got a little gold mine and you don't even know it...

Have you ever been interested in rock gardens?

My father had a real "ROCK~EYE" so to speak,
I on the other hand, DON'T!!
I will have to see if I can scan the picture I have of his rock gardens....

Yeah, tell that to my back thats had to dig them all out!

Ohhhhhh, I believe it John,
I believe it...

Only satifaction to the pain is the
gorgeous out come of gardening and a feeling of a job well done...

I have just moved into my new house (4 months ago) and in the back garden (yard) there was a wooden 'box' that was being used for outside storage (kids toys, etc). I've since taken all the bricks out the bottom, and turned it into my compost heap.

It's about a meter square by maybe 75cm's tall. It has wooden sides all round, and a wooden top (with felt lining to keep it water tight). I've since stopped using the top and kept it open, though I have plastic sheeting to try to retain moisture.

I'm very new to the whole composting thing, but it has a lot of cuttings from things I've hacked back (not much wood though), some grass cuttings, and is being filled with a lot of kitchen left-overs (fruit cores, banana peels, salad, left over broccoli, cabbage, etc.) all uncooked.

Now for the question:

I've heard you're supposed to layer the bin, but as I only have one, everything seems to just go in, and then gets mixed up when I'm near it with a fork.

Is this OK, or should I have a tighter strategy for the compost?????

Thanks for your help.

Sounds like you're off to a great start!


Sure it is. Compost will happen no matter what you do to it. The only drawback would be that you'll have some unfinished material when you go to use it. Thats not a bad thing. You could always just throw any unfinished stuff back in the bin.

Glad to hear it :-)

Something I thought of last night though. As I only have one bin, when the compost is ready to use (would this be maybe late summer?), should I have another container to move it into, so I still have a bin for the rest of my stuff? Would a garbage can be any use?

Thanks.

Ahh yes. See, this is where a multiple bin system shines. One for finished material, one working and one for new material. You can have finished compost in a month if you actively maanage it. Turning, watering, etc. Anything you can find to hold it would suffice.

Like John said, I love the 3 bin system.
*well, I do the 7 bin system*
but if you don't have the space for the 3 bin system..

Empty your compost pile, that you have right now,
and if it's not done or finished composting..
but it in a brown or green plastic garbage bag..
and put it in the sun..>the dark bag in the sun, causes heat inside the bag and finishes the final thrawls of composting..... and you can start re~loading the bin back up with stuff, and working it and filling it...

While the other in the back is finishing up..

*I did that and it turned out wonderfully*


Although you will end up with some big chunkes in the bags... you can take that big stuff and throw it back into another compost pile you start, and that will help that new bin start to active it'self with microbes that are on it and in it...
to jump start the new bin...

We have the big brown bins for the council to collect garden refuse (I fill mine with all my big twigs and weeds that won't be much use in my own composter :-)). They have wheels on, so wondered if they'd be any use? Do you think they'd heat up the same as a platic bin liner, or should I just buy a wheelbarrow for transporting this stuff around my yard?

The big brown bin should work fine or a trash can will work. I have one bin which is made out of chicken wire, but as weezie and John both pointed out...You will always need another bin. Mine needs to to worked on as far getting the finished or semi finished out of it, so I can add more stuff. I had planned to make a pallet bin, but that is not working out everywhere that had pallets all the sudden have none, So will proable make another wire bin.

How's everyone's compost doing???
Cookin' yet?????

Weezie...glad you asked. I've been meaning to pick your brain for a while...you've got a compost tumbler, right? I bought an Urban Compost Tumbler last fall. I tried to do a batch that started to decompose some...it was getting a little dry, so I added water and spun it. After weeks, nothing was happening. I used the contents to plow into a row.
I took Mike McGrath's advice, the guy on NPR's "You Bet YOur Garden" I mixed shredded oak leaves (I bag about 100 to 150 bags of mostly oak every year) and LOTS of chicken poop, plus about a gallon of kitchen scraps. Now, this stuff sat and did nothing again...I've tried to keep it moist but not wet, and not spin it TOO much. I wasn't surprised during the cold weather, but we've had a record heatwave most of this year. Any thoughts?
I do bunches of compost bins...mostly just round wire structures...but I don't turn them. I wanted the tumbler so I'd have clean, complete compost.

That's strange Dave. Was the chicken poop aged or fresh? If it had already composted itself down, it's nitrogen content would have been gone. This would have created an excess of "browns" and would have slowed it down. That's the only thing I could think of.

I just threw a whole load of kitchen scraps in my new pile. Definitely not heating up yet though. There were big chunks of frozen stuff still!

I promise I will get right to this..
*gotta go pick up the wee~one,
be right back!*

OH MY GOSH, PLEASE DON'T TELL MY HUSBAND THAT,
HE ALREADY THINKS IT'S BEEN PICKED CLEAN AS A WHISTLE..

First, I had to look up what you got...

Okay, this is a kinda complicated answer...
First off, this is the one I have Mantis Twin Compost Tumbler
And IMHO it has a few flaws, but I'm not sending it back....
They are all workable, but you've got to play with it and get the feel of it..

First, if you're used to a open~bottomed compost bin, it doesn't work the same way, I feel..
The open bottomed one's have worms and ground moisture and such to work and activate and keeps working the pile..
When you have a tumbler, it's not exposed to the critters that help break it down, or the moisture drawn up from the bottom...

(and different style bins work differently too..
*I have two other regular open~bottomed bins that work differently than the wooden one's I have..*)

I had alot of trouble with mine in the beginning..
Especially with the moisture...
*I did use alot of bottom of the bottles of Pepsi, but haven't had alot hanging around lately.*

But it just seems to stand still, especially if you use alot of leaves....

and they say to chop up everything, that's one of the flaws I think, but that is how you get the compost to work down in such a short time, cause the pieces are soooo small, and smaller pieces have more exposed edges, and the more exposed edges, means faster decomposition...
But you could stand there all day choppin'.. :rolleyes:

I use this product Ringer Compost Plus
I ended up putting it in, and it got those leaves rrrrrrrrrv'd right up and down....
(*it also came with the tumbler, but I have used it for years before that, on my large leave piles in the back yard.. I have my yard, mother's yard and a neighbors yard I use all the maple leaves from, and the pile is HUGE, so I have to do something to get it down a bit or come windy fall or spring days the pile is back on the lawns...*)

Plus for me, I don't tumble mine everyday, I am way too busy for that...

But I have found that the more loads I've done in the bins, there's enough composted compost in the cracks and crevices's that that helps the next load start, cause all those goodie microbe's are in there... *and I sift the bins and put what hunks are tooooo big, into the new pile, which also helps active it too*

The other thing about mine is, I really dislike how it comes out.. most of the time I waste more
than I get in my wheel barrow, that has to be one size to fit under it...

And at least mine, does not come out in small pieces, *like it shows in the commercial/ad for it*, at least for liking, and you can never get it all out, but I guess for the next load~that's a good thing..

Yours looks like the mouth of it, is easier to empty than mine....

The one thing I liked about the compost tumbler is, I'm not sifting worms, it breaks my heart when I'm sifting and I grind one up in the sifting process... so, that's good, but the soil isn't as nice as the other ones'.. but I use it just the same....

Is this yours Dave??
"URBAN COMPOST TUMBLER"

I see for one of the extra's you can buy
is a "TEA" cathcer..
Finally usin' their heads I see..

Mine drains too, I just put two buckets under mine where it drips..

It'll drip mostly when it's had a good raining on the bins...

Also, they sell a Compost Activator too,
"Whitney Farms' Compost Maker Plus (4-4-2)"

That's the very one, Weezie! I got the large model. Everything about it sounded great...even the fact that it didn't have gears and such to wear out. The thing is tough, I must say...really thick, stout plastic. I think it may even have a ten year guarantee, but I forget. The air tube in the center, the crossbars to throughly mix everything...What I've been thinking is that these oak leaves are just very tough and resistant to breaking down. And very acidic. But...they break down when they're in ground contact. Mold and fungal "threads" run through them.
I think that getting the bacteria, etc. established will help. I didn't use any starter/booster, but I did use a scoop of old compost, and some grass clippings which had digested some in a lawn bag...i have a lawn vac/shredder which really does a number on the leaves, but I have noticed that maple, pecan and other less leathery leaves need little help in nature to compost into soil over the fall and winter.
Oh well. Summertime will be the true test...just wish I had tons of clean, chemical free lawn clippings.

oh yeah, Weezie...I bought the compost tea collector, too...I could always just saturate everything in there and collect the juice a week later! Do that a couple times and start over!

You can make a foliar feed too and spray it on the leaves...

I really think that is one of the keys to
those bins, is after it builds up stuff inside,
from load, to load, to load...
To be honest, I really don't use that ringer any more in the bins... it was basically just for a few of the first loads on both sides....

I also have to admit, I don't stuff it as much as
I used to... and over stuffing it probably didn't help it much..

Woohoo the neighbors kittykorner to me just raked up their fall leaves and gave them to me. Woohoo! I have really nice neighbors over there. And isn't that going to be a good starter when I get my first load of grass from the landlord. I can't wait for that. I plan to get out there to day and turn the bin and the pile but so far I've taken a nap instead. I think I'm still tired from the dinner last night. It doesn't take much to wear me out.

Now I'm really wondering what's wrong in that tumbler. I built a pallet compost bin on Wednesday, filled it with leaves, a few scoops of soil and some chicken poop, and watered thoroughly. As of today, it must be 110 degrees just a few inches down! Just like that!

How many batches of compost have you made
with this tumbler yet Dave???

None. After 6 weeks or more last fall, I dumped the first batch and tilled it under...it was somewhat broken down. Then I started this batch immediately...we did have some cool weather, but it's been HOT! Really hot many days this year...it's 80 again today. There's just no activity in the tumbler at all! I've experimented with different moisture levels, more turning vs. less turning...Maybe these Black Jack oak leaves are just too tough. I know I could have composted 4 or 5 batches of maple leaves at the very least by now!

let me add, Weezie, that my shredder does a very good job...the pieces are anywhere from 1/4 inch to 3/4 inch. They have lots of dust from the vacuum action of the shredder...so soil, bacteria, etc. is throughout, before I even add anything...It's just a huge mystery why nothing is happening in there!

I would go with more green, leaves as you know are very tough to decompose..

And with it being a new tumbler, that good stuff,
isn't build up in it from previous loads....

Get some old beer hangin' around and put that in, if there is such a thing

And find some of that Ringer stuff, or the stuff that was sold with your tumbler, I really had to use it in the first couple of loads, but I have not had to in the past 3 summers now...

Well my bin got turned for the first time this year. And I have no green to work with yet so I thought I'd start a yeast culture and see about stirring things up. I'd use beer but I don't drink lol.

Mine's still frozen solid...

Is it really Weezie? Wow. Even with that warm weather this past weekend?

Just some of the top edges are crumpling..

(I do have a big container/bucket of some bagged compost, I will leave in the sun, and it will start to thaw faster, and I can start to sift that for my seed starting mixtures....)
But it won't be for some weeks yet...

We had one spring day, a couple of days ago..
and now we're snowed on again, and freezing temps..
I haven't watched the weather forecast as of late to see what's coming in the next weeks...