It looks like it is turning into compost to me...Sift it, if you can, and the debris that doesn't make it thought the sifter place back into your composter with greens.

Hope that helps

Yep, looks pretty decent to me. Can't really tell from the pic, but it looks like it might be on the wet side, which can slow things down quite a bit, especially with a high lignin material like newsprint.

Newsprint is not very mechanically stable, but chemically it is ~ 20-22% lignin, which can be resistant and slow to decompose under aerobic composting conditions (see link below). The primary mode of lignin degradation is via white rot fungi, which are the same microorganisms largely responsible for wood decomposition. That will mostly occur in the post-thermophilic curing period, and it is a comparatively slow degradation. The good news is it is a key component in the formation of humus/humates, so your product stands to be really good for OM in your soil.

Yes, it's useable. I prefer to apply fresh compost as a mulch around plants, but you could mix that into soil as well.

A few questions:
What did you use for greens?
About what ratio of greens to newsprint?
How wet was the mix?
How large is your tumbler?
How often did you tumble the mix?
Any idea how hot it got?

Here is a link that might be useful: The Effect of Lignin on Biodegradability

I'm not a fan of substantial amounts of paper products in compost. I've never gotten good results. Small amounts mixed in with a good amount of leaves, no problems.

If that were mine, I'd run it through my shredder after drying and re-mix into a new batch. Alternatively, it would probably make a decent mulch.

Lloyd

What did you use for greens?
Fruit/veggie peels, strawberry tops, coffee grinds, corn husks, culled seedlings, basically kitchen trimmings

About what ratio of greens to newsprint?
About 50%? Don't know for certain because I added new greens every couple of days for 2 months. I would add more shredded newspaper when I felt there was too many greens.

How wet was the mix?
It was dry from time to time so I poured in a small amount of water inside occasionally.

How large is your tumbler?
52 Gallons

How often did you tumble the mix?
Every 2-3 days probably.

Any idea how hot it got?
No idea but it felt rather warm whenever I took the lid off.

I did notice a lot of creepy leggy insects when I dumped it all in my wheelbarrow.

It doesn't seem worth worrying abut too much since there is not much of it. I'd just use it as mulch wherever you feel it would be useful.

Personally, I think it's fine. The bulk of C degradation has taken place, so it is highly unlikely that if added to soil it would act as a big C pool that would stimulate microbial activity that would deprive the soil of active N in the process.

Some options:
1. use it now as a mulch, or under other mulch if appearance in that truly fine landscape of yours is an issue. It would be great around your veggies.
2. since you're changing composting to a larger pile, mix it in with the next pile.
3. mix it with soil in an area that won't be planted for 4 weeks or more.

If it were me. I'd be doing 1 because that's how I predominately use compost.

A note about newsprint - in addition to being fairly high in lignin, it also likes to mat together (think paper mache). When and where it does, that will further slow decomposition. Getting it well dispersed in a compost pile can be a challenge.

If after 4 months of working your compost still shows particles of the original material that means something is not working right for one of any of these reasons.
There was not enough Nitrogen in the mix so the Carbon was not all digested.
The material was too wet so the aerobic bacteria that digest the material could not work.
The material was too dry so the aerobic bacteria that digest that material could not work.

Perhaps this Composting Tutorial can be of some help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Composting Tutorial

I bought the Lifetime dual tumbler from Costco and have a similar problem. Most of the material I add is grass clippings and kitchen waste. Unfortunately I don't have much brown material to add to the bins. I also get some fresh horse manure every once in a while from a friend.

The compost I'm getting is clumpy about the size of the horse manure. In fact the whole thing looks like horse manure instead of the fine compost you see in the pretty pictures. Do I just need to let it go longer and keep turning it or is there something wrong?

kenmichelle, your mix is very rich in Nitrogen and lacking in Carbon. Horse manure is a Nitrogen source as would be the kitchen scraps and grass clippings. If we had some idea of where in the United States you were we might be able to suggest a source of high Carbon material.

kenmichelle - kimmsr is likely right; you're probably low on carbon (browns), and if the grass clippings are fresh and green when you add then you're probably too wet as well.

Tumblers are prone to rolling decomposed materials into balls. The problem is most evident when the contents get on the wet side. When that happens, you can end up with clumps that are slow to decompose as the outside rolled up surface makes oxygen penetration difficult, so decomposition inside the ball gets real slow. If that happens you can help it along by using a garden fork or hand cultivation to break up the balls after turning.

I live in San Jose, CA. the material in the bins had gotten really dried out so I spray it a bit. Maybe I sprayed it a bit too much. My yard has only one tree so I won't be getting any brown leaves for a while. I don't want to use newspaper after reading all the bad comments about it here. I just don't generate much carbon material here.

You can go carbon scavenging. No one says the dead leaves have to be from your trees.

Or you can buy horse bedding material. I know someone who uses pelletized sawdust purchased from a feed store. Works great.

I've been checking the yard-waste piles in the streets on garbage pickup days but there's not much carbon to be found this time of year. I'm sure I'll be able to get all the carbon I need in a few months. I'll check out the sawdust pellets. Thanks.