Large piles can be fun but one has to be aware of the potential for anaerobic conditions developing especially in a hot pile. This bin has a twenty four foot circumference and holds about 7 cubic yards if filled to heaping. Fresh air entrainment to the centre is unlikely so either frequent turning, or some means to get air into the pile is almost a necessity. Once one gets into that kind of volumes it may be best to think of windrows. Lloyd

Is your community garden strictly organic? If not you could buy a bag of pure nitrogen fertilizer, mix that in, and make sure the pile is damp. More organic altho not necessarily strictly Organic are alfalfa pellets/meal, blood meal, or any seed meals (cottonseed, corn, soy, etc.) Of course these are not liquid but do work to help a pile heat. If you really want liquid you can mix alfalfa pellets/meal with a bucket of water and pour it on.

Lois, ALL organic matter will decompose, eventually. I make good compost from ONLY horse manure +water+air. And good compost ONLY from grass clippings +water+air. The ONLY major difference between 'aging' and 'composting' is management air and water in the mixture. But I do make even 'better' compost faster, from combining both manure and grass +water+air. Heat-generating microbes will 'quicken the pace' by heating the toughest materials, but are NOT essential to produce quality compost. Composting is simply a 'management' activity to help speed up Mother Nature's process. I am an "intensive" management composter - because my focus is to obtain the very best quality result in the shortest period of time. I'm happy when I start-to-finish a 5' x 7' x 4' high pile in 90-120 days. Almost a ton, dry weight. But most folks don't consider that as 'fun'. Figure out what would be an enjoyable, do-able level of activity, to produce the amount of product YOU want, how fast. Ingredients/tools/effort/time...Same as cooking. The methods of management are as varied as there are people, who want material for plants, in which nutrients are already 'decomposed' back into a form that plants can uptake again quickly. Trash can or barrel will work. Bottom and side 1/2" dia. holes spaced 8" - 10" apart worked best for me - holes too large and material comes out too much. But keeping the lid on tight during rolling is IMPORTANT. For a metal trash can, pre-drill for 6-8 screws around the top edge. Tie an old sock to each handle for lifting, then U-bolt the handles down tight. Screws won't keep the handles tight and are dangerous when reaching into the can. Put in the top screws, lay it down and roll it around. 3-5 minutes every 3-4 days. Add water if needed AFTER it has been aerated. If the material becomes too wet, it won't mix/aerate well (ka-thump; ka-thump). If that happens, add dry leaves/grass and keep rolling. Might be difficult to set upright again, and rolling it back up an incline, can get tiresome. Lots cheaper than a tumbler, though. Get a 2nd can working - stop putting scraps in #1 after 2 months, while you fill up #2 for 2 months. After a total of 4 months, put the #1 material on/in the garden dirt and start a new 'pile' in it. After that, you have a continuous supply every 2 months. Quality of what you get depends on what/how much you put in and how you managed the process. If you have more available materials, and/or need more 'finished' product than 2 cans makes in 4 months, think about starting a pile. People only move material. Mother Nature composts. By using microorganisms. Composting is 'ranching' in a microsopic sense. Some microbes create heat - others don't, and most thrive in lower heat ranges created by the ones that do, if they do. Microbes have their own 'cycles' based on what's in the material, that they can 'eat'. Microbes 'breathe' oxygen and 'exhale' carbon dioxide. Different from the way we do - but same result. If you tie a bag over a critter's head, the CO2 that it exhales, will quickly kill it - by replacing oxygen. Does the same thing to microbes when the air trapped in decomposing material becomes toxic due to CO2 accumulation. Turn the pile before too many of the 'critters' die, and you won't have to kick-start the pile 'over' again. Tumbler-type 'bins' do aerate material well - but have relatively small capacity, same as trash can. The larger ones work better, to the degree they contain more biomass. No structure is necessary to contain material being composted, but where material is thickest - decomposition is fastest (biomass compression) - and further toward the edges of a conical pile, decomposition takes place at a slower rate. Higher, vertical pile walls compost more completely, faster - especially with compressed outer edges to retain moisture. I obtain vertical pile walls without a stationary bin, using a simple, adjustable wood frame. Small-sized materials decompose faster than larger-size pieces. How much material you obtain to compost with, how much space you have available and how much energy/time you have to apply to composting, essentially determines size and convenience issues of operational design. For 'fast' composting, the 'standard' is one cubic yard, with the 3' high being more important than width and length dimensions, but as Val commented - a little conical pile will work - just takes longer. If you opt to use a wire screen as a 'bin', I recommend tamping the sides snugly to 'insulate' the pile and help retain moisture. Dry material does not decompose quickly, even if piled 10' high. Air flow into a pile is also not a major issue, and with coarse material, can be detrimental by drying it. Simply turn the pile before the microbes run out of air, and make sure plenty of gas exchange takes place in the material when you turn it (screening). If pile air supply does become depleted - then anaerobic microbes take over later - which are slower - and a bit smellier - but will do the same job eventually (as long as moisture is sufficient). Plan to turn the pile before and after taking a long vacation. Use materials at hand or easily obtainable. Don't spend money on composting - unless needed to make you happy - in the doing of it - and with the results. Remember the primary principle of composting: With YOUR pile, YOU are the ONLY expert. And some of the advice you get will be very wrong. Simply because 'THEY' don't know what YOU are doing. When you make soup - you make it your way - to your taste - and that makes it the RIGHT way. It's your soup. Some people follow 'recipes' - some don't. Depends on the degree of consistency desired. Important thing is enjoy the activity. Keep telling yourself: "...it's good for me...it's good for me...as your friends walk past (whispering to each other) as you roll the trash can round 'n round... Robert

Large C Shaped Grubs In Compost Pile New composters are often shocked to find these in their piles and are naturally concerned and/or repulsed by them. No need to fear. Often times what you have are the grubs of the Green Fruit Beetle. A quick web search using Google or one of the other search engines, using either of those terms will bring up a lot of good info that I will summerize here. Green fruit beetles are, for the most part, good guys. They prefer to feed on decomposing organic material as grubs and overripe or rotting fruit as adults. If you have them in the compost pile they are working hard to break it down for you along with the redworms and other members of your "microherd". You can identify them from other more destructive types of grubs fairly easily. They are an off white color changing to a dark grey at the tail end with a reddish brown head. They are considerably larger than most grubs, up to 2" in some cases. Say the size of a small shrimp. If you expose them they will crawl on their backs, legs in the air, to try and rebury themselves. This "upside down" mode of locomotion is specific to this species. It has been noted that, unlike other types, this species will come to the surface at night and move about, and in doing so, serve to aereate the compost piles for you. If you sift your compost before use you may wind up with quite a few of them at one time. They make good fishbait. You can also place them in a shallow pan or tray and lay them out as food for the birds. There are many other more destructive species and of course if you find that is what you have you need to take measures to remidiate the situation. Milky spore or benificial nematodes are some recommended methods that are low impact. Limiting heavy chemical use will allow for natural processes to keep things in check for the most part.