Wow  ThatÂs great. YouÂre doing well if you can get compost finished in 30 days. It takes me 4 to 6 months. But then I don't turn it more than two or three times. Good job Brandond. Bill Hill

The bacteria that would digest your material need air to function and the amount of water you allow to build up displaces that air so they cannot function. You do need to break up that pile and allow it to dry out some and when you put the pile back together mix it more. In the future mix the grass clippings with other materials to keep them from clumping together. Since this is a lot of, unnecesary, work figure out a way to put a cover on your compost pile to keep that excess water out of the mix.

lilacs of may - I agree w/the "need more greens" opinions above (which is not to say that I disagree w/the "need more water" opinions - I just don't have an opinion about the water thing b/c my bin is in a container & I tend to have too much moisture more often than not). The way you described it - 1 thin green, 1 thick brown of mostly leaves - seems like it would take a real long time to decompose. I've noticed leaves in my bin take a long time, which I didn't expect. But, my bin takes a short time to decompose when I've used mostly garden/kitchen waste, intense greens (such as UCG/dried blood/alfalfa), and some browns such as (leaves/paper towels/napkins/shredded moistened cardboard) - IF I turn it ALOT (again it's in a bin so this might not be as crucial to your formula). Plus, I also find that we each have a preferred "formula" for our individual systems, lifestyles & area of the country. I've added below a link to my list of 201 Compost Ingredients, if you want to brainstorm about more "greens." BTW, we just got our first Starbucks (10 min away) - prior to that the nearest starbucks was 1 hour away & that was just in a bookstore. I am already collecting from a local coffee shop (actually, they were new about 2 yrs ago - pre-local-Starbucks - and I told them about Starbucks' habit of bagging & offering UCG for peoples' gardens & so now they're doing it! yippee!). And, actually, most of the UCG I gather go directly onto soil (under the store-bought pine/other bark/shredded mulch) or onto the grass. So, do it again this year & keep experimenting to see what works! polly in IL - that is BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for the pix! All the Best, Tree Here is a link that might be useful: 201 Compost ingredients

Piles that don't compost are usually short of something, or have too much of something. When you wrote 'I thought that I put equal amount of everything into it', that was a clue to what went wrong. Ingredients should be mostly carbon: old dry weeds, straw, old hay, shredded paper, shredded cardboard. These should be the majority of the bulk you add. Nitrogen can be provided with grass clippings, fruit/veg leftovers, manure, green weeds. A big load of grass clippings in one of those barrels isn't going to compost, it will just rot. And stink. Stinking compost means too much nitrogen, WAAAAAY not enough carbon. People always say to add 1 part nitrogen to 30 parts carbon. No one ever mentions if that is by weight or volume, but go by volume to start. Once you have success, you can fine-tune it. Moisture is crucial and seems to be the most difficult for the beginner to grasp. 'As moist as a wrung-out sponge' is the usual advice. Aim for DAMP, not wet. Try to add your materials to the barrel in mixed clumps, not a huge wad of straw and a big solid lump of fermenting grass clippings. Check the load after a few days and see if the moisture needs adjusting. Too wet, add more carbon. Too dry, add a little water. Adding it by the cup is better than stuffing the hose nozzle in there and turning it on full-force. Air is required, and is introduced by the turning of the barrel, so you shouldn't have any problem there. If you want to add a few handsful of soil, that's fine, but don't load it up with it, it's too heavy and isn't contributing all that much. If you're having trouble turning the barrel because all the weight seems to be in one place, your wet stuff may have to be redistributed among the dry contents. And it's best to FILL the barrel, at least to get it started. That helps to keep the rotation easier. As the contents composts, it will diminish in bulk, which is okay. All you need is some success to see how it works. Sue