.. Seems to me Kimmsr has a point. You gotta get the mix right. Can't ignore Lloyd though. A smaller volume makes everything harder vis-a-vis hot composting. In a smaller volume the mix is going to be more critical. I just assembled a bin for the first time without grass clippings. Just leaves and chipped sticks. 17 cu ft. Got 150 F for a very short while then 140 F for a day or so and then 130 F for another couple of days then into the 120s. Turned if after week adding grass clippings. Got a couple of days of 140 F and 130 F for the rest of the week. Just turned it again tonight in the rain. We'll see. I would expect the given mixture in a 1 cu yd to do something similar. I think the small size just hindered things some. I haven't worked with straw but something tells me it's made to be rot resistant. That tells me it will compost slowly. Couple Lloyd's experience with an observation supporting our fears plus the small volume and I think things are just going to go slower. Not a major disaster. It'll rot. Just not as fast nor as hot. to sense ..

Drayven asks: "What is the fastest way to compost?" Learn as much about the process as you can, then use that knowledge to your advantage. If one knows how "compost happens", one can make it happen at the most productive rate. "How can I achieve the 5 week turnaround time?" See above "What is the difference between remixing and restacking?" None, the key to the question is the "re". All one is doing is making the pile again using the same material. "And why is it that there seem to be so many different ratio guides?" Because there are so many different things (ingredients) that can be composted. And too, the combination of these materials combined will give a different "ratio" unless the same materials are used each time. "What is the advantage/disadvantage of using a bin?" Neatness and control of the pile. "If I have grass clippings from the winter, meaning the clippings were already brown and dead when they were collected, does this count as carbon or nitrogen?" They are still a "green", just to a lesser degree due to loss of nitrogen. "How do all of you measure the weight? Do you just do it by feel or are scales involved?" By feel (eyeball). I have never heard of anyone weighing his or her materials (but it could happen). There are three phases organic matter goes through to becoming compost. a.) Heating b.) Cooling c.) Maturing/Aging Heat is caused by bacteria working. To get more heat, get more bacteria working. Cooling is the domain of fungi. To compost faster during this phase get more fungi working. There is nothing one can do to mature faster, only time. This is the only phase nothing can be done, save "wait". There are many good techniques offered in this thread. One should keep in mind that these techniques work for the person and environment composting is taking place. There was no one question that was asked to acquire the shared technique; the member had to put in their time to know what they know. IMO, the best suggestion offered in this thread to get fast compost is: "On further thought, if I needed compost right away, like tomorrow, I probably would go buy It." Other than that, one is going to have to do ones time Blutranes

There often can be some of your material that has the appearance of a piece of something that has been burned and it has and that is called "flash". There are some people that have not seen that and consequently deny this will occur, just because of lack of experience. Many of these same people have denied spontaneous combustion can occur in a compost pile, in spite of repeated news stories to the contrary, again due to lack of experience. Fungi may inhabit your compost pile and may digest some of the material there but will not leave that material looking like it has been burned, that only happens when the material has been burned, when flash has occured.

"...A significant problem with most horse manures is the presence of a goodly amount of weed seed, which is hard for the townie gardener to "compost" away because the heating requirements for such are difficult to attain. So for the average gardener using the horse, I suggest that it be gathered and stored in a heap as compact in size as practical...." Right on Reggie. Years ago I used horse and rabbit manure almost exclusively in my garden as fertilizer and soil builder; I did supplement with a commercial phosphate and potash from the wood burner. Many years ago my very first experience was with a load of very old cow manure from an abandoned dairy barn which I just broadcast over the garden and tilled it in, and, oh my oh my, I might as well had hand sown the weed seed, it was a nightmare. There were weeds that I still don't know what they were, but it was a lesson learned. About that time Rodale published their 'Guide To Composting', which I promptly bought, and the knowledge I gained from there was invaluable. I learned all about manures, and it just so happened that just down the road less than a mile away from me was a very large horse barn (est 80 stalls) that rented stables to the public - read an inexhaustable supply of horse poop for lil' ol' me! (at that time) Horse manure taken directly from the stall and built in layers into a compact pile as you say, and thoroughly soaked with water as you go along and then covered with plastic will indeed heat up (I've never had a failure even in Winter) and kill the weed seed. This is a strictly anaerobic composting method which is described in Rodale's book under, well, Anaerobic Composting. I believe horse manure was taylor made for this method of composting. It takes 3-5 weeks and it's ready to use. I prefer to stretch it out by spot using it in the hills with individual plants. Here's the completed 'dung heap'. It's funny, we had snow the other night and I peeked out the window and the covered straw pile had a coating of snow, the covered mulch pile had a coating of snow, BUT NO SNOW ON THE MANURE, it's hot already, and I even used very cold water from the rain trough to wet it down.