Have used my electric mixer in various ways. Usually it was too much trouble for mixing coarse dry stuff like manure and hay, but for awhile I mixed the chopped kitchen scraps with water and added solid items such as a shovel of compost or shredded leaves. Too messy and got tired of cleaning the mixer for small batches. I went back to my covered anaerobic 'Slush Bucket' for kitchen wastes, since it decomposes material quite well, while I'm waiting to start a new pile. Bit of a smell when I take off the lid, but just toss it on a layer (upwind) and water it in. Works for me - and does not make the pile smelly. Both carbon and nitrogen are changed by microbes during the composting process with nitrogen being depleted most, since N is volatile (lost in air) and soluable (lost to water). You can add either or both to a pile, depending on which is needed (if any) when you turn it. Heat of a given feedstock biomass is relative to the C:N ratio and the kind of heat-producing microbe populations that exist within the raw materials. It's a matter of molecules and atoms. Heat is derived from sub-atomic "chains" being broken. Same reason humans generally stay at 98.6F while still eating and breathing. The principles don't change. How much of what stuff to add to your pile is a matter of experience - and what you are attempting to accomplish. Lots of good info available on posts in this forum, and EVERYBODY has their own opinion - which is certainly valid, since everybody is the resident EXPERT in how they manage their own pile. What works best for me - to accomplish my purpose - does not always work for somebody else. It's a look/smell/feel thing. Takes practice. It's a personal thing... I use horse manure and cut grass clippings almost exclusively for major bulk. I allow my grass clippings to become well aged, as a source of both carbon and nitrogen. C:N ratio is a feedstock "age/moisture" thing and a laboratory calculation. Don't worry about it. You can't calculate it anywhere close if you mix more than two diverse materials, and wouldn't anyway - even if you knew how to. You're limited to the materials you have available to compost, and it's better to add 'em to the pile and pray, than it is to hold 'em out. Get 'em cookin'. Fresh grass clippings contain more nitrogen than old clippings. Blades of grass or leaves turn brown due to loss/change of CHLOROPHYLL, not nitrogen per se. Nitrogen is still present in aged grass blades, but some is lost to bacteria and fungi generally called 'leaf mold' which I like to be in abundance on my grass clippings before layering them onto a new pile, since most are thermophilic strains. Recommend you do not use fresh green grass clippings unless they have been spread out to 'air-dry' for at least one day. A thin layer of green clippings - up to one inch is not going to give trouble, but thicker layers can, since the leaves pack tightly when watered, which means very little air - which means anaerobic condition - so a thick layer or 'clump' of green leaves can become slimy and stink - even inside an aerobic compost pile. When green grass clippings air dry, the edges curl and get stiff - allowing air to pass through between clippings. The change of green (chlorophyll) to 'brown' should not be considered a major loss of nitrogen. I teach composting to Master Gardeners in several counties, and the MAJOR issue that I encounter with the many backyard compost piles that are supported by our team, is lack of WATER content in feedstock. Pile material is called "feedstock" in the scientific community, because managing compost piles is not agriculture, or horticulture. It's ranching. Raising a microherd - principally of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes. They need water - LOTS of it, because MOST water is depleted by microorganisms and rising gasses due to temperature. Some folks say to keep a pile about as wet as a wrung-out sponge. Well, that's OK, and that's certainly easier to say - than to do it. You probably wring harder than I do. But from my extensive experience (and thousands of measurements), it is the absolute MINIMUM amount of moisture needed. IMO, 'wrung-out' is NO WHERE NEAR the optimum. For folks that use grass, hay, straw and leaves, my recommendation is to soak them in water overnight before adding them to a pile. This is the best way to get adequate moisture into dry feedstock. And add the leftover water to the pile too, since it now contains nitrogen (et.al.) leached out of the material. That goes for poop balls/clumps too. Drop a dry horse poop ball into a bucket of water. How long do you think it will float before it becomes saturated so it floats like an iceberg? Try it. The point? Dry feedstock does NOT decompose worth a durn. If you don't turn (gas exchange) and re-water a pile of feedstock regularly, most of that pile will still be looking back at you next year. All organic materials will decompose/change over time with adequate moisture. Shrinkage from dehydration and shrinkage from decompsition are at opposite points on the scale. How quickly an aerobic compost pile feedstock takes to decompose, depends on HOW MUCH O2 and H2O are available to the microbes who use carbon and nitrogen as food, to do the actual microscopic-level work. I hope this information was helpful, glenam. Now let's see how deep this "rabbit-hole" goes... Robert

Compost and organic matter are always good additions but anything else should be guided by a good, reliable soil test. Contact the folks at your counties Cornell University Cooperative Extension Service office about having a good, reliable soil test done. Then you can dig in with these simple soil tests to learn more about the soil you do have. 1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell CES

I'm just starting out with one of those 3X3X3 plastic compost bins you can buy at HD. I'd only had it a few months, only had about 1' worth of stuff in there that I watered a couple times but never turned once. I had to move it the other day, and when I popped the main structure off the base to expose my compost, the thing was crawling with sowbugs and it looked pretty horrible. The pile didn't look like it had decomposed at all (I hadn't expected it to since it's a cold pile and would need more time)and the bugs had me so heebied that I was ready to break the thing down and toss it in the garbage. Then something beautiful happened: I stuck my shovel in the pile and discovered that underneath that sad looking top layer was the most beautiful rich dark loam ever. A check of this forum told me not to worry about those sowbugs, so I'm not. (I honestly think they're there only because I put some redwood sawdust in the pile). The moral of my story is I'm pretty much the worst composter out there yet my results were delightful. I don't think you need to kill yourself turning. Like they said above, you'll get MORE compost if you work and turn it, and can create a big enough pile for hot composting. Being a cold composter, I've got to be careful about what I put in there (nothing with seeds!), and in turn, I probably won't end up with truckloads of it each year. But my garden isn't that big either. So just do what you can manage and let Mother Nature have her way. I'm sure you won't regret it!

Thanks ceth k and Lloyd. Ceth, there's an interesting quote by Thomas Jefferson "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have" which I believe. Altho I am very fortunate I don't really believe in 'luck'. Lloyd, the birdbath is on a post because when our most recent cat adopted us (and I allowed him to be outside in the daytime) he would lurk by the birdbath and get one bird every day. So DH elevated it and the birds are safe. Cat is no longer allowed outdoors cause I like to keep him safe. While we have bears they've never bothered the birdfeeder. It's also on a tall post with sheet metal around the post to prevent the squirrels climbing it. They get enough seeds because the birds drop a lot. Bears have never come into my house yard altho have been within 20 feet of the house on the other side. I've highjacked this thread enough so won't post more pics but if you want to see bears and other wildlife we live with "they are here." My apologies for the highjack montcal.