Eggshells take forever to break down. You can speed the process up a bit by smashing them to bits before putting them in the compost, but they will still be there for a while. Putting everything through the Cuisinart will surely make them break down faster; if you've got puree of scraps, you can probably just pour it onto the soil.

If you have lots of fruit and vegetable scraps in your compost bin, and not much else, you are going to have little flies. If you throw in some browns - shredded newspaper, last fall's leaves, ripped up cardboard box - the flies should diminish.

Compost takes a while to come to fruition - just wait it out, if you can.

The best test is to open it up and observe moisture, texture, aroma and insects. :-]

I second the recommendation to add more dry brown materials. One thing about puree-ing your waste is that it will not give any 'fluff' to the pile, and air will have a harder time getting into the center. It may actually be better to leave at least some of the scraps unpulverized. Just a thought, I haven't done what you're doing.

If it's drippy wet, leave the door open in dry weather to get the moisture down.

Thanks guys!!

This might be a dumb question, but would dirt serve as brown material?

Reason being is that I don't have any organic leaves, newspaper or cardboard boxes to add. Our garden is stictly an organic one. Any other ideas on something that would serve as brown material that I could find in an organic form possibly?

Mindy

Thanks guys!!

This might be a dumb question, but would dirt serve as brown material?

Reason being is that I don't have any organic leaves, newspaper or cardboard boxes to add. Our garden is stictly an organic one. Any other ideas on something that would serve as brown material that I could find in an organic form possibly?

Mindy

No, don't add dirt.

Certainly you have junk mail you could shred (or tear up) and add to your pile. It would serve as a source of carbon (brown).

Or shredded office paper, bills etc., from home or the office.

Do you know a woodworker? Wood shavings or sawdust are a super brown.

Wood chips from utility tree trimming crews.

Shredded yard waste mulch from a municipal mulch pile.

Square bale of pine shavings sold as horse bedding at the farm supply. One bale (about 1-2 cu ft) will last a long time and is There has to be SOMEthing.

No toilet paper rolls? Cereal packets? Brown envelopes? Computer print outs? Kleenex? Till receipts? Bills? Amazon packets? Food boxes (rice, cornflour, etc) Sugar bags? Flour packets? ???? Don't you eat/read/use anything that comes in paper/cardboard?

"This might be a dumb question, but would dirt serve as brown material? "

The use of "dirt" is not as a carbonaceous addition. It can be used as a cap to prevent N outgassing. Sir Albert Howard would be a good read.

Some believe incorporating dirt innoculates a compost pile with needed fungi/bacteria etc. Anecdotally, not needed.

The only time I'd use soil is either in a lasagna bed, or throwing a handful into a tumbler to inoculate, which is exactly what felin has. But only a handful.

Are there deciduous trees growing around you?
Those leaves that fall every year are a good source of "browns".

Here is an egg shell tip microwave them and also pre crush them. But, if they don't breakdown just put them back or just use them anyway in the soil.

Food Processor, yes, a great idea, but I found precooking is very good. Microwaving fruits and vegetables speed them up. I think a Food Processor is too much work, because you have to take apart the blades and clean them out.

You put everything in a big Pyrex type of bowl and nuke for about 2 to 5 minutes.

I have never considered fallen leaves as NOT organic, but I'm not holding the organic high ground here. I recommend that the OP saunter over to the Organic Gardening forum and ask for organic browns suggestions.

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.

"Reason being is that I don't have any organic leaves, newspaper or cardboard boxes to add."

The word "organic" in the context of gardening is an invented term and is meaningless in and of itself. Trying to decide whether leaves are more organic than shredded paper or the like strikes me as an exercise in futility. You are keeping things out of landfills and/or reducing strain on your local recycling facility, so choose what will yield you the best batch of compost.

Here is a link that might be useful: What is organic FAQ