It sounds like it should be turned and sit a bit more, but I'm surprised. Grass breaks down very quickly --- if you put grass in there last fall it should be gone (unless not turned over and aerated properly). Ditto on maple leaves --- they are far less fibrous then, say, oak or hickory leaves and break down pretty quickly. Are you spading the pile (turning it inside out)? A pile of materials that is truly 'composting' gives off a lot of heat. If you get to the middle of your pile, and don't notice any warmth, it's not breaking down. You'll also get that nice earthy smell (well, not everyone likes the odor) of organic materials breaking down. 0 The other option, if you need to get out there and prep, is to add what you have to the garden and till it. It will definitely break down once mixed with the garden soil.

The only tree I can recall to be avoided is Walnut trees and leaves. The exact reason I do not remember, but I am sure you can do more research to find out why. As it relates to paper, there is no nutritional value at all to be found within it that I know of. Cardboard is supposed to possess nitrogen within the glue that can be of some benefit for the garden. I usually use cardboard as my bottom layer in lasagna beds for this reason and the fact that it is thicker than paper. If you can, ask your tree service people if they have access to ground up tree stumps. This material is excellent for a compost pile IMO. If they can give it to you, it should already be steaming when they deliver it. I would mix the ground tree stump with the material you have on hand to make great compost. Potato chips, popcorn, candy, and other junk food is not good for the garden or compost pile here in the south IMO. I have found it attracts fire ants like no other carbon source. It is better to stick with material that will offer both mineral and organic bulk to the soil, again IMO. As long as the material is of a small size one should produce a great lasagna bed or compost from such material Blutranes

You can add dirt, but not very much. The first short cut everyone new to composting does is try to add dirt instead of browns. There is plenty of it and it's free, but it will slow your bin way down if you goal is to heat up and speed up. I noticed there are a few parks in my area with pines that drop needles and there are piles of leaves in certain other parks. If you collect wood pieces they have to be small pieces or else it they won't break down. I also made each mistake. I put in wood clips I found from tree trimming that were too big. Then I discovered bagged browns, but now my new thing is I go to the grocery store and I get brown paper bags. I grind them up in a big paper shearer, and I get free browns. But, I would have gotten mad and quit composting if I had not found bagged browns 20 years ago.

Why Kelly, so unlike you to jump to conclusions without a shred of factuality or even a reasonable assumption to be further investigated. I can almost always tell your posts before I know they're yours. In this case, I couldn't have guessed. With as much seriousness as I'm capable of mustering at any moment, I will tell you that my days of smoking anything other than a ham or turkey are way long ago gone, and probably one of the reasons I took up what I like to call gardening. Since my recent experience with my compost pile, I've decided to spend some time studying, you know, space, the last frontier after that foliar miracle, ACT. Chuckiebtoo