Hi Mike & Welcome! Congratulations on taking the plunge! I agree w/joepyeweed - 3:1 ratio of average items works well for me too. Here's my experience - I compost in a bin - a self-made 33 gal rubbermaid that's got some drilled holes & bottom cutout & is hidden in a corner (also have a HOA). I happen to like getting "nearly finished" compost sooner (& I don't screen b/c too much of a setup for my small HOA space) rather than later for a few reasons - would rather use my "good wholesome" quality compost in the garden than bagged compost - would rather use my almost $0 cost than pay for bagged compost - enjoy replenishing the earth w/my kitchen scraps than filling a landfill w/it I mention these b/c everyone has their individual reasons for composting - and a lot of times, the reasons inform what one does & why. So, I like to my compost to be done sooner rather than later - so, I do a few things (that others might not do) & I like the results - BUT after you compost for a little while, I believe that you'll find your own groove w/a little experimentation & you'll find out what you enjoy & what "works" for you, so here's my thoughts/experience for you to build on & take w/"a grain of salt": - I cut things small - in a container & given the "rate" of 2 mos or less for my desired "almost-finished" compost, I find the smaller the pieces the better - that means that instead of just chopping off the tops of the celery - I keep chopping up the tops & then put into the countertop crock - it works for me, it may "burden" others - so do what works for you - I use a countertop crock (stainless steel) to put all my kitchen scraps (including used napkins, papertowels w/o cleansers) for one or two days & then take to compost - sometimes I put coffee & UCG in there, sometimes I keep them in their own separate container - b/c I don't have a paper shredder & would rather not spend the time to tear pressed board, cardboard, paper towel inner tubes, scrap paper, envelopes, junk mail, etc into finger-sized pieces, these usually get torn into pieces as small as time & my patience allows, which is, well, not too small - my compost pile really likes beer (which I drink about 2x a year, so if I'm buying beer from a package store, it's probably for the compost) - it heats up & the slugs come - which means that they stay out of my garden - I LOVE to turn my compost - I have a pitch fork which allows me to get down into the top 2/3 of the rubbermaid when full - I enjoy the exercise, the checking out the pile, feeling the "heat," adding the oxygen, the analyzing (I love analyzing things, so of course, I enjoy doing that w/my compost, others feel differently), etc., So, I enjoy turning my pile everyday, which usually doesn't happen if I'm busy w/work or it's raining. With the lid on the container 75% of the time, I believe that the turning adds the much-needed oxygen that it doesn't get b/c it's in a container. - As to the bottom 1/3, it really tends to get compacted in the bottom of the rubbermaid, so I've added some additional air holes down there & I've gotten a "bulb auger" attachment for my drill, which I haven't had a chance to use yet b/c it's been too rainy here. - I usually leave the lid (has no holes in it) on my rubbermaid container, except when I'm home for a little bit on a non-rainy day, then I know that if anyone (say, from HOA) comes snooping, I can deal w/it. Also, it gives me more confidence (although I probably don't need extra precautions b/c there's no "odor") that little guys - or big black bears - from the nearby woods will stay out. - As to greens/browns, I usually go by moisture & smell, and adjust accordingly. I'm usually adding a thin layer of leaves (or torn pressed board, etc.) on top to discourage aromas wafting into the nearby woods anyway. And so, when I empty the countertop crock, I'm usually adding a couple handfulls of browns (yesterday it was from my "stash" of cut up old white cotton socks & paper towel tubes). Again, too much moisture, I usually add more browns. Looking/feeling lame, I usually add more greens & cut back on the "browns." I go by feel. Fastest compost I made in the bin was last October 1 - 22 (ish) - compiled it all at once - from a lot of garden scraps - especially chopped up tomato plants & spent butterfly bush blooms and leaves (whole, not shredded) and shredded paper/pressedboard and kitchen scraps - turned it (almost) every day. Reduced in volume by about 1/3. Came out wonderful - not perfect, but wonderful for me. I don't really like doing it that way all the time b/c without a 2nd compost bin to accumulate stuff, it doesn't allow me to continue composting stuff & it "forces" me to have all the stuff on hand all at once - I just give you this experience w/these factors so you can have some sense of other peoples' experiences & timeframes. Hope this helps, and keep asking questions! Wishing you, All the Best, Tree PS Which type of "bin" did you buy? What does the manufacturer recommend about turning, moisture, etc.? PPS I added a link below to get your brain "brainstorming" about compost ingredients in your house (including browns) that you may not have considered before.

Baronne's color is intensely vibrant pink with very slight hints of salmon and occasionally tiny streaks of yellow hidden. Most of these photos are color accurate based on what I saw. I'm going back tomorrow and will see if it's in a fuller bloom. From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010 Baronne Prevost Videos: From 5-7-2010 From 5-7-2010

I don't know about the gray but it sounds like you might have mildew and I know there are two types of mildew. One is Powdery Mildew and I think the other is Downey Mildew. I may be wrong about the second. Are the leaves curly? If so, you have Powdery. As far as the brown buds, you may have the bugs thrips. I got them the first time this year. They like light colored roses and get inside the buds. If you go back further in this forum, there is some threads on thrips. You can find different sprays like Bayer in the stores or like you did cut the buds off. That is what I did. Sorry I could not help more. Punch rose diseases, mildew on roses or rose thrips into your browser and see what you come up with. GOOD LUCK! Oh and by the way there is a miniture rose forum here on Garden Web.

To aid in identifying, I made a little diagram of the pot. I spent many hours last night looking at pictures to try to identify things myself. I confess I am too green to have any confidence, though. 5, 6, & 9 are identified. 1 may be a kind of Echeveria? Maybe a Tylecodon? 2 Sempervivum? 3 a type of Haworthia? 4 Aeonium? I do have more close-up pictures of the individual plants, if that would be of any help. And not to be pushy, but keep in mind that I'd love to get ideas on which members of my collection I can successfully grow together. If I can just run with what I think I like together visually, great. But I'm receptive to other concerns. It may take a while to get the whole collection up here. I have some plants that had labels, but I want to try to verify the labels first.