Any other recommendations for a decent pile?

Yes, some source of carbons (browns) because everything you mentioned so far is a nitrogen (green) source. ;)

Got some fall leaves, some bales of straw, sawdust, dry wood chips, cardboard, shredded newspapers, etc.?

Dave

I have hay and I have an endless supply of toilet paper holders. Would that be good? I can shred newspaper if I have to.
Kim

Unlike straw, hay is a green, a nitrogen. Toilet paper holders will work but it will take a lot of them.;) The usual ballpark recommended ratio is 2-3 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. Local stores are a good source of cardboard boxes but if you can pick up a couple of bales of straw they will go along way.

Piles composed of predominately greens are stinky and can easily go anaerobic on you so a balance of both types of materials is vital to the process working and working well.

The many FAQ's here are a great place to start on learning the basics.

Dave

How about pine straw?

Hi,

I hope I am posting this in the right place - feel free to let me know if there is a better place to move it?

I got a compost tumbler for free last summer. I loaded it up with kitchen waste, and some leaves/grass clippings, etc... It froze, of course, over the winter. It is now thawing out, and I have been turning it. However, it is still really wet, and doesn't look like it has done much. Did I do something wrong? How long should it take? What do I need to do instead?

Also, I have just read recently that it needs to be loaded up all at once. I didn't do this. In the future, how do you do that? Where do you keep things until you are ready to load it up?

thanks!

Hi Kim
What you have will be a good start. Mix it together, pile it all up as high as you can get it using a pitch fork to fluff in air. It has to be damp, not wet. For the first 5 days or so you can cover it (tarp, clear plastic, black plastic etc)to help hold in the heat & moister then uncover it. It should be getting warm or hot by then. The hay should help with air, which is good. It will "cook". Add any new stuff to the top & about every 10 days/2 weeks, mix it all up again & let it cook.
Compost happen naturally all the time in nature. The mixture with manure, hay & grass is a fine start. Adding the kitchen scraps will help also.
Once you get this pile mixed(3 weeks or so), start a 2nd one, same way. Let the first one cook for 6 weeks, the middle should be usable compost. Mix what didn't break down with the 2nd pile & leave it for 6 weeks, Repeat over & over. I store the "done" compost in a coveedr pile so it don't leach out all the minerals. (If you don't have room for a mixing pile & a cooking pile, just use one & mix the outside edges & dig the compost out of the middle as you need it

tips: If when you mix it,it's dry, add some water but not allot. damp is the key, NOT WET, mixing adds air, an important part. If you can build 2 bins out of old pallets, chain link fence, snow fence etc 4 to 5 feet high it helps (holds the pile together & air from the sides)

The pine straw will work good kamv - it is slower to break down than is wheat or oat hay but it has a carbon rating of 100+ so a good brown. And it doesn't mat down and retain water like hay does so will help with air supply. Many people confuse hay and straw and assume they are the same thing and act the same way in a compost pile, but they are very different so we always try to make that distinction clear.

tspitzer - for future reference it's best to start your own thread. ;)

But your mix has the same problem - all nitrogen sources and no carbons (browns) in it. You need to add lots of dry browns like those listed above - shredded paper, cardboard, straw, fall leaves etc. and then it will take off.

Tumblers are intended to be used for what is called batch composting - load it all at one time - but many use them for continuous composting with some success according to previous discussions here. If you want to try that route, just store your components in any convenient place until ready to use - dry components can be stored in trash bags or boxes and wet components like kitchen scraps are often frozen until ready to use.

Again I recommend reviewing the many FAQs here for all the basic info and if you will search here using 'tumbler' in the search bar at the bottom of the page you'll find many discussions on how to use them.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Composting 101

First let me thank you guys for your help. I read up at the composting 101 link and I think I am off to a pretty good start.
For browns right now I have:
Pine Straw-all I could need (this is Louisiana after all)
And I can get cardboard, ashes, and I found a huge bag of peat moss in the barn that I have no use for.
For greens right now I have:
Grass clippings - quite a bit more than I think I need.
Manure- made daily in the pasture
Hay-always on hand
And a steady supply of coffee grounds, tea bags and I will be adding a minimal amount of kitchen waste cause we dont really waste much.
I will be attempting to get this all balanced out and just see what gives.
Again, thanks for the tips.
Kim

Sounds like a good plan. ;) Enjoy your composting.

Need to correct myself though - I said wheat or oat hay but meant wheat or oat straw. Nothing like tripping over the exact point I was trying to make - duh!! :^)

Dave

I found that chopping your kitchen veggies up in the food processor or by hand speeds up the processing of compost.I try to remove the thickest parts of the cabbage or the onion skins (don't know why they don't compost quickly).

Almost anything that once grew and anything that you can eat can be composted. Some of that material is more resistant to composting than others, for example the peelings of some fruits and vegetables that are supposed to help those things stay edible, but they too will compost. This web site is about the best one I have found for new, as well as old, composters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida's Online Composting