Hi, I'm surprised that the leaves and grounds didn't work for you. Try again and make sure the pile is evenly moist, not wet, and it should heat up right away. Some greens like grass clippings really get things started, just mix them well. Turn the pile weekly for a month and you should be well on your way. Best Regards.

coffee grounds are usually said to have a 20/1 ratio. Therefore you don't need a huge amount of carbon material to get the 30/1 ratio that most people concider optimum. If you mix a small amount of coffee grounds with a large amount of browns, you will wind up way above 30/1 and won't get a hot fast compost pile. You need lots of coffee grounds to make a big pile using coffee grounds as your only N source. This may be why most people just spread the coffee grounds around in the garden as a little nitrogen boost for their plants. It is already a nice consistency and color for adding directly to the soil.

I think the problem with leaves was that they were maple and fairly large. I am going to shred the leaves I get this year, however I use them.

I pick up the grinds from Starbucks all winter when no one else wants them and end up with a lot of them - about 15 gallons a week. Thought I might as well try composting them again. If it fails to compost - no big deal - I will spread them out and till them in anyway. But I would love make some nice fine compost.

It sounds like I was adding too much carbon source. I wonder if screening it into the pile with sawdust would work well?

Cheers,
Michelle

Depending on the time of year and what is available, I mostly mix shredded paper and leaves with coffee grounds to make compost. Sometimes, if I'm out of those ingredients, I'll use pine bedding (from the pet department at "big box" stores like Wal mart or K mart).

I've had my compost heat up to over 160 F with this combination. I don't measure what I put in, but play it by ear. To be more accurate, I should probably say that I play it by nose. if it stinks, I add more high carbon material. If it's not heating up, I add more grounds.

Here's what I do. If the current compost is finished, I sift it over the lawn using a sifter made with 1/4 in hardware cloth and dump what doesn't sift through into buckets. When the bin is finished, I dump a bucket of the last batch, then a bag of shredded paper (the bag from the wastebasket sized shredder I have), then a bag of grounds (one bag if it's a trash bag or several bags if they're the silver bags). Sometimes I'll split the paper and put half in before the grounds and half after. Depending on the condition of the grounds, I may add water at this point. I then repeat the layers until I run out.

If the battery for the cordless drill is charged, I may stir it a little with a bulb auger.

After a few days (once it has started heating up), I open the door at the bottom of the bin and take a shovelful or two from the bottom and put them on top. This creates sort of a "cave" in the bottom. As I turn it this way, it eventually gets top heavy and collapses into the space at the bottom, and this helps mix the layers even more.

Since paper has such a high C:N ratio, it's easy to overdo the paper. If you do, just add more coffee grounds.

Definitely do shred your leaves - they will break down faster. Last year, due to the drought, by the end of the season I was very short on grass clippings, so I used coffee grounds. Stuff did not compost that quickly, but by this spring, I had really nice compost that was full of big, fat worms. I think they really like the coffee grounds. So if you're not using the compost until next spring, I think coffee grounds and shredded leaves (wetted up), will be fine.

Deanna

How fast any particular material will be digested depends on the C:N ratio, moisture level, amount of air in the mix, particle size, and volume. The C:N ratio needs to be quite near to optimal 30:1 range and the material is best if it is bite size and just damp enough to feel like a really well wring out sponge, ie. not really all that wet. Since the bacteria that will be digesting that material only work in the presence of air, aerobic bacteria, and water displaces air be sure that some of each is present.
One good way to know if your compost pile is working properly is if it heats up and smells pleasantly like good, rich earth.

michelle: My maple leaves are my favorite for composting. I do generally mulch up all the leaves but I find that the maples break down faster than most others.

Karen