I finally got my first compost bin last Fall. Thrilled, I proceeded to add the necessary items layer by layer, wet and dry, etc. Once it was full, following a book I read, I left it alone except to aerate, add moisture or dry out as necessary to maintain a warm but not hot temp. It was going nicely and reduced to half it's original size. Then, a few weeks ago my well-intentioned gardener added 10+ inches of fresh grass clippings to the top. This sent the temp way up in the bin and made it almost impossible to aerate. A friend said she always continues to add to the top of her compost bin, simply removing the "dirt" from the bottom door opening. Now I'm not sure which method is the most correct. Any advice is appreciated!
I like to have two bins and might make another one as a holding bin. The first bin gets filled all year with compostable materials layering as needed. I will leave this bin for a whole season untouched while filling the secound bin in the same way. Leaving the fist bin for a year helps to break down the composted soil more and hopefully kills off any unwanted seeds. At fist I had one bin emptying it from the bottom but found I would get alot of uncomposted stuff mixed into the soil and all kinds of seeds, pumpkins growing all over the place in the garden. One way to keep the tempature down in the compost pile is to place a perferated pipe in the centre of the bin and fill around it. A 4" abs plastic pipe works great as a vent just drill holes down the sides or use a piece of big O drain pipe.
Thanks 1950Greg! Yes, it seems to me continually adding to the top and taking from the bottom would lead to nondecomposed items ending up in the composted soil, especially if one is thoroughly aerating. Shouldn't I aerate from top to bottom? Recently I read that having 3 bins is ideal - one that is almost finished, a second that is half way done, and a third that's just getting started. The literature says that done correctly, a trash-barrel sized bin (urban backyard size) should take just 3 months to compost. This is the goal I would like to reach, which I believe is possible given the temperate climate of Southern California. We have grass (wet) and leaves (dry) almost year-round. And I certainly have kitchen scraps all the time.
Sometimes I will fork the the upper layer to aerate when it looks like it needs. Throughout the year I add small sticks from prunnings in layers that help aerate the pile, usually these don't break down but I use them again the following year untill they do.
