Why do you want leaf compost to heat up? Because it's faster? If the leaves were shredded, at least coarsely, there's a chance they are ready to decompose, but dry, whole leaves that have only been sitting around a few months probably need to leach a bit before they can really participate in active compost of any kind. Moisture rather than nitrogen is key. But hey, as hard as you're working, you will move up the schedule, and the rain probably improved the condition of your leaves. If I were you, I'd stop turning and let everything rot, and use the chicken manure you have left as a fertilizer. If you want to see some smoke, wait until the weather is warmer and mix those moist, limp leaves with an equal part fresh green grass clippings. Still, why you wanna work so hard? It's not like leaves are full of weed seeds... Here is a link that might be useful: my website

egg shells, watermelon rinds, strawberry tops, salad scraps, 1/2 roastbeef with swiss, bacon, onions, and yummy avocado on homemade sourdough bun (i almost cried), bones from Friday Night Chickenwings Extraveganza, various paper products that accompanied said feast, old receipts from cleaning out my purse, TP and PT rolls, empty 50# flour bag, lemon/lime slices, and a few gulps of beer I was unable to finish. Turned the large orchard bin adding the above ingredients together with thin layers of my nearly gone leaves from last fall and the ever-present UCGs. Topped with a good soaking (and, of course, DH's contribution of liquid gold) and am letting simmer for a few days before I turn again. The bottom is already looking and smelling like black gold!

Im thinking after reading this two things. One my pile wasnt big enough in the first place and second after getting it to 130 and not getting it there again all winter that by spring it was done. Also Ive read that once your pile is finished that when it cools then worms move in and finish the pile actually making it darker. Im also gathering that especially at first you should turn it every 3-4 days and that the turning process during this period will help heat it up. Im just not sure how to gather more debris for keeping the pile hot once the pile start going down.

Lloyd, I'm smitten... in a platonic composty swoonie sorta way. Cool pics, and cool idea. Howsoever did you get into this sort of "town pays me to take leaves" kinda gig? Idaho, cute :) They are quite brave, and we have 4 swooping about our house daily in suburban Pittsburgh ... sux to be a squirrel in our neighborhood. Karen, thank you for giving me permission to not screen it! :P I've been reading about screening, and looking at how beautiful and fluffy the screened compost looks in wheelbarrows, etc., and all I could think was, "really? I SO don't want to do that by hand!" So here's where I'm at... I tried one more time to get Bin 3 to cook something ... it just doesn't resemble compost and it makes me sad. Maybe it's an exercise in patience. I actually bought some urea (thinking maybe we weren't producing enough "the natural way"), mixed a couple cups into 5 gal of water (a measurement I read somewhere on here that someone posted he does to his pile ... thank you whoever you are who posted that and I can't find) ... Nothing. Temp is still 70ish after a couple of days? which is cooler than ambient. *sigh* There are still enough tiny sticks and stuff in there that I thought it would jumpstart the carbon munching again with the nitrogen boost. No such luck. I'm just gonna sit on it and occasionally water it so it doesn't dry out for the next couple of months and see what happens. On the brighter side, I've layered a new pile in Bin 2 with browns and some decaying greens from Bin 1 + ours and our neighbor's grass clippings. 130 degrees, baby :D It's the little things that keep us going. Thanks you all for your suggestions and your help. I'm off to figure out how to kill cucumber bugs. -Veronica