https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpYyH7LyMW8 If you have raccoons or opossums digging in your uncovered pile, it's worth covering it up. When it rains, uncover it so the pile can keep working- compost piles crave moisture, and it's not easy to oversaturate one.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKlH9pO5V94 While I was on vacation in Bocas del Toro, Panama, I discovered a compost bin at the Palmer Tent Lodge on Red Frog Beach. It's always nice to see a composting system in place when traveling, or anytime really. Of course I had to take a peek! It looked like the majority of the bin's contents were food scraps, with all of the cardboard laying on top in sheets. There was a good deal of bugs and the contents seemed a bit dry. I decided to help out by shredding up the cardboard into smaller pieces and mixing it in with the pile. This will help speed up the process a bit and get the pile in balance. They also had a nifty finished compost bin next to it,…
How important is particle size for the success of your compost pile? Composting naturally occurs over time, so is it worth putting energy into chopping up all the contents now? At the end of my street, a huge pile of leaves just sits there practically all year long. That section of the block is rarely cleaned, and the wind ensures that the pile continues to grow in size over time. Now that it's spring, I went right for this mess at the end of the street, and it was interesting to see just how well the leaves had broken down under the surface. It smelled similar to a "forest floor", which is the aroma of fresh compost. This was a natural, nice and slow leaf compost in progress. I decided…