Thoughts on whether the compact barrel (it says up to 3 30-gallon bags of waste) would suffice during big fall cleanups? How many bags of fall leaves do you usually rake up? Even with preshredding 3 30 gallon bags isn't much at all. When finished you'll be lucky to get 1 30 gal. bag of compost out of it. And there are many other disadvanges to using the tumbler type composters - lots of past discussions here on them - and as you'll discover from the reading, most of us here are not fans of any of the tumblers because of our experiences with them. Don't get me wrong - they may have their place such as where it is impossible to compost otherwise. But they are not for what I'll call "serious composters" for want of a better label. They are batch oriented not continuous process oriented. So you dump your equivalent to 3 bags in and that's it. Until that load is finished and removed, nothing else can be added. You don't get much but still have the problem of where and how do you store the finished stuff while the next batch is cooking? How often are you going to be able to turn it? Must be done regularly. Monitoring the temps is required. Proper moisture levels must be meticulously maintained or they turn rancid. What sources of greens will you have to add to all those leaves on a regular basis? Lots of points to consider. ;) Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Tumbler discussions...

dsfoxx, it sure is refreshing to read someone posting factual statements about black soldier fly larvae. Have you blogged or posted much about your experiences with them? Since this thread shows up frequently in search results I would like to comment on some of the previous statements. Culturing BSF is my hobby and I'm still learning about them, but I'm familiar with the basics of BSF behavior and life cycle. I don't have much experience with traditional composting so I'm not qualified to give advice about that specifically. My observations are based on working with dedicated BSF "composting" units. From previous comments in this thread: "The BSFL were undisturbed. Temps of 145 -150 did not bother them in the LEAST." BSF larvae die at about 113F (45ºC) "There's a particular barnyard aroma to BSFL piles." The only consistent aroma I've found with BSF colonies is the mild smell of wet straw. The typical smell generated is that of wet straw plus whatever waste you're processing. When I add cinnamon bread to my BSF composter it smells good, like a bakery. If you search you can find several references to the mild odors associated with BSF larvae. Foul odors are sign that the colony is out of balance which is usually simple to fix. In a properly managed dedicated BSF unit anaerobic bacteria are limited by the constant churning of the larvae which aerates the waste. A well designed BSF unit will have good drainage to avoid flooding. "I put a fly swatter out there this summer, and I kill any adult I see, on the 'no egg, no larva' plan." You'll only be wasting your time and burning a few calories with that approach. "I'm thinking about starting off next year with a garbage can--sounds grim, but at least then the mature larvae can't crawl off to pupate. If they 'all' lay 'all' the eggs in a solid plastic garbage can, I can put said can in my truck and take the whole business two hours away to my mother's farm--Mom has chickens, and Mom is tough. Mom once shook Japanese beetles off her fruit trees onto a sheet and saved a five gallon bucket of them in her freezer to feed her pet chickens over winter." Your Mom sounds cool. However, it's possible for the larvae to escape a plastic garbage can under some circumstances. They can climb a smooth vertical surface if there is condensation present, and they can squeeze under any lid that isn't extremely tight fitting. Also there is little chance that "all" the BSF would lay on the garbage can anyway. "Black Soldier Fly larva are used to consume animal manures and the only thing the adult flies do in their about 30 day life is look for another BSF to mate with,..." BSF consume most food waste in addition to manure, and their lifespan is reportedly 5-8 days. You're right about their goal as adult flies. "...so except as a food source of predatory insects or birds they really serve no purpose." BSF larvae actually serve as a food source for an extremely wide variety of animals including birds, mammals, insects, reptiles and amphibians. But the idea that such a powerful detritivore serves no purpose other than as prey for other animals isn't logical. "I have noticed often when these larva are present there is a putrid odor to the compost indicating too much moisture which displaces the necesary air which creates that putrid odor." I agree with your statement because you qualified by saying "often". The point I want to stress is that putrid odors are not necessarily a part of BSF culturing and can be avoided with an understanding of their life cycle and behavior. "I definitly did not use enough brown, realizing that now, but i also remember that i saw the little buggers in the yard in a pile of yard clippings in a bin before i even started composting so they were here already somehow." Anything's possible but it would be unusual to find BSF larva in a pile of just yard clippings since they don't normally consume such high cellulose items. You're probably right that BSF where already there; they are very common in most of the United States and around the world in hot to mild climates. "I offered the maggots to a local chicken farmer but she was concerned about introducing them around her house," The farmer's concerns were unfounded; if you had BSF then she would have had them also, especially with chickens present. The interesting thing about BSF is that they normally do their important work virtually unnoticed by people because the adults don't pester us. Typically a female BSF will lay eggs near a food source and then leave to finish out her short life without ever coming into contact with a human. Furthermore if your local farmer understood that BSF larvae limit reproduction of house flies and other pest species she would welcome their presence. "I can't imagine having a compost goal of never having any soldier fly larvae, ever. It would be too much like looking at composting as requiring a recipe and a perfect rate of completion and outcome, like baking perfect bread that either comes out "right" or is tossed out if it goes a bit one way or the other. I mean, one piece of pumpkin or apple in a bit cooler area of a pile may harbor some larvae." What a reasonable person you are. "I find that it only takes a day to get it heated up and cooking. Weekly turning will keep it cooking, and I don't usually see them in the core. They might stick around on top if I don't have enough browns to cover it with. BSFL are just a normal part of composting if they live in your region." And another balanced perspective! "I put in kitchen scraps and hay and some paper. Things went well, though during the cooler months it wasn't breaking down much. Then about a month or so ago we noticed that all the gnats were gone, the stuff was starting to break down, and the bin was full of what seemed to be Black Soldier Fly maggots. The smell was fine, and I read up on it and thought it was ok, so I let it go." This is what I would expect in a properly draining system inhabited by BSF larvae. The reduction of gnats (and other flies), rapid breakdown of waste and mild odor are all typical of a balanced BSF unit. "The Aerobin has a tea spout at the bottom along with a bottom drainage system. A couple weeks ago I noticed that the bottom of the Aerobin was seeping sludge. The tea spout produced a lot of liquid, but didn't stop the seeping sludge. I opened the side doors and it was just disgusting. Maggots fell out, sludge fell out, and it smelled like sewage." And this is what to expect when there are BSF present but there is inadequate drainage. As someone mentioned above; standing liquids create a zone where anaerobic bacteria can thrive creating the sewer-like odor. I realize that your Aerobin isn't designed for BSF composting, and that in the absence of BSF it's drain system would probably work fine. Without the BSF your waste would break down much more slowly giving the moisture contained in the waste time to evaporate gradually. When BSF larvae quickly devour high moisture waste like fruits and vegetables all of the liquids are released, overwhelming the drain. One possible solution to your problem might be to line the bottom of the unit with a filter material to keep the drain open. Coconut husk fiber (coir) works well for this and is readily available as welcome mats and wire planter liners. If you had been able to regularly drain the excess liquids I don't think you would have seen the smelly sludge develop. As mentioned above; it's not likely you'll be able to keep BSF out of your unit. I wouldn't put hay in the unit again due to the clogging your husband noticed when he cleaned the unit, however you might have better results by adding wood shavings. Wood shavings help absorb excess liquids but don't tend to clog as much. A lining of coir with a few inches of shavings might result in very low maintenance and high volume waste processing. I often add wood shavings or sawdust to my BSF units if they become too wet. "On the news tonight they mentioned that Florida is having some sort of infestation of a biting yellow fly, so that didn't make us feel any better." What does that have to do with BSF which are neither yellow nor biting? In fact, depending on the breeding habits of the yellow pest flies, having BSF present in your waste may actually deter them. BSF are proven to reduce house fly development in waste 94-100%. - "The black soldier fly (BSF) is a southern native, non-pest fly that unlike the house fly, is not attracted to human habitation or foods (Furman et al. 1959). BSF reduce manure accumulations 42-56% and give 94-100% house fly control through larval competition and by repelling ovipositing house flies (Bradley and Sheppard 1984). Elimination of lesser mealworm has been noted, but not well documented. The digested residue is a friable compost-like material with about 24% less nitrogen (net loss of 60%). From Bradley and Sheppard 1984 (6), cited in Roeder Meyer (8) "The 'putrid' smell people describe when they have alot of BSFL is NOT mismanagement of their compost piles. It's the maggot crap. It tends to be wet no matter what you do." BSF crap does not smell other than the mild odor of wet straw I mentioned above. Again, the BSF don't manufacture liquids, they release the moisture contained in food waste. "Getting a liquid from any compost, except vermicompost, means the material is too wet. The presence of Black Soldier Fly larva means the mixture is too wet." I would frame it that the sudden release of liquids due to breakdown by BSF may cause issues for composting. BSF larvae do require a moist environment, but they are not attracted to either anaerobic nor flooded conditions. - "Hoy (pers comm) suggests that adults avoid oviposition sites that are anaerobic." (1)"Wet substrates were less attractive to ovipositing Hermetia Illucens (aka black soldier fly) (Booth and Sheppard 1984). Therefore, water was added to medium used for an oviposition attractant to near the saturation point to encourage oviposition [in another location]." (10) "Based on observations made at Caboolture Sewage Treatment Plant, soldier flies do not lay their eggs in sewage sludge pilesÂ. Under experimental conditions indoors (described below), adults did not lay in open containers of sewage sludge." (3)" "Since the adult BSF does nothing except mate to produce more larva, and may be among those flies that are known to spread disease pathogens around, there is no good reason to be thrilled about having these critters in your compost." 1.) It's an odd oversimplification to say that any creature only exits to reproduce. 2.) Research indicates that BSF are not vectors of human disease. BSF adults rarely contact waste directly and instead lay their eggs above or beside waste. Since the adults don't eat they don't land on food to be consumed by humans. House flies and other pest species do land directly on waste and then they target human food which is why they ARE vectors of human disease. In fact, BSF have been shown to reduce some pathogens in waste. - "Erickson, M.C., M. Islam, C. Sheppard, J. Liao, and M.P. Doyle. 2004. Reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in chicken manure by larvae of the black soldier fly. J. Food Protection. 67:685-690. 3.) Generalizing that "there is no good reason to be thrilled about having" BSF larvae in your compost doesn't take into consideration the growing number of people who are indeed thrilled about working with BSF. It usually starts with understanding the creature correctly. "If the material is too wet and we know that the liquid is largely coming from the maggots, is the liquid bad to use? I am worried that I just sprayed nothing but bugs on my beans and totally destroyed them." Some claim that the liquid effluent released by BSF metabolism can be used as a fertilizer. I haven't tested this but I don't promote the use of the liquid. I doubt it is what killed your beans though. To all; I hope I didn't come across as too defensive in my efforts to correct what I perceive to be misinformation about BSF. I could be wrong about some of my positions and I'm willing to examine them. I spend so much of my time undoing misconceptions about BSF that it gets tiring. I look forward to the day when more time is spent helping people design systems and maximize performance. I didn't post reference links but there is a great compilation of BSF data at BioSystemsBlog.com: biosystemsblog.com/2008/07/09/black-soldier-fly-compiled-research-on-best-cultivation-practices

Yes, we can all shred our documents so we are comfortable having strangers pull up and rifle through our contents, sometimes trespassing on our properties to do so, set out with the intention of a hired company or municipal service picking it up. Just because you don't care if someone looks through your trash doesn't mean everyone feels the same for whatever reason. There are a lot of comments on the thread about homeowners reactions and avoidance of homeowners. I gave an example because we've had break-ins around here (which is highly unusual for my neighborhood). We live on a quiet cul-de-sac and my neighbors now are on alert for strangers in an effort to keep our property/children safe. It's unfortunate but it's a sign of the times. Wouldn't it just be plain common courtesy to ask if someone's outside - why would that be a 'might ask'? I think that's what initially prompted me to post. Apart from Lloyd's poor neighbor, I'm sure not many do care about their leaves and their dog poo. But, why wouldn't you feel compelled to give a shout-out to someone in their yard that you're just collecting leaves for your compost? And I certainly feel compassion for people that are down-and-out. (This lady was not and I actually save my deposit bottles for the guy that mows my lawn because he asked (he's on disability) so there's no need to be in front of my house every week). While you don't have ulterior motives for scoping out the neighborhood, it's not always know to the homeowner. For all I know you could be a pedophile or worse, Lloyd neighbor's husband :) There's no reason why compost can't be collected with a degree of sensitivity to the wide variety of homeowners encountered.

Krt1 - You are probably referring to common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. It is a hardy plant, but not a great garden plant because it spreads by runners hither and yon. It is weedy, and IIRC it may be somewhat toxic to livestock. So I guess many gardeners and farmers consider it a pest. Monarch populations have been declining over the past decade or two because their habitats are declining. People should try to preserve a patch or two of Milkweed if they can. Even a few plants growing in the corner of a yard makes a difference, but the more the better. Some pics from my Monarch year 2012. These are large 5th instar caterpillars, inside a butterfly enclosure, eating their milkweed stalks. Here are the same caterpillars emerging from their their chrysalises - there are 25 Monarchs here, the most i've had eclose in one day. This is the milkweed field where I collect stalks of milkweed to supplement feeding the caterpillars, also have collected eggs here.