Large piles can be fun but one has to be aware of the potential for anaerobic conditions developing especially in a hot pile. This bin has a twenty four foot circumference and holds about 7 cubic yards if filled to heaping. Fresh air entrainment to the centre is unlikely so either frequent turning, or some means to get air into the pile is almost a necessity. Once one gets into that kind of volumes it may be best to think of windrows. Lloyd

Monte, from the FAQ: "Green fruit beetles are, for the most part, good guys. They prefer to feed on decomposing organic material as grubs and overripe or rotting fruit as adults. If you have them in the compost pile they are working hard to break it down for you along with the redworms and other members of your "microherd". "You can identify them from other more destructive types of grubs fairly easily. They are an off white color changing to a dark grey at the tail end with a reddish brown head. They are considerably larger than most grubs, up to 2" in some cases. Say the size of a small shrimp. If you expose them they will crawl on their backs, legs in the air, to try and rebury themselves. This "upside down" mode of locomotion is specific to this species." That's pretty specific. So - is that what you have, you think? It says nothing about eating roots. The first time these grubs found their way into my compost pile, from horse manure I think, they chewed through it, making the best finished compost - as fine-textured as vermicompost.

See what I mean about conflicting reports on how beneficial these can be? My compost pile has definitely been untended. I saw the grubs when I first turned it after a winter of leaving it alone. Here a post saying that the grubs are beneficial: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/soil/2002013027009234.html Here's another one on the exact same grub, saying that they can be very destructive to your lawn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_fruit_beetle And Soldier fly larva are pretty much acclaimed for being helpful, so we should be careful lumping everything into a single category. http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/story.php?S_No=802&storyType=garde I was hoping for a solid ID on what kind of grubs I had in my compost, but my pictures may be too fuzzy for anyone to tell for sure. Here is a link that might be useful: Soldier Fly Larvae

Thanks again to everyone............... rhizo_1 identified them via e-mail. She confirmed that they were, indeed, beetle grubs, which is also what kimmsr had suggested. joepyeweed....they are not the soldier fly larvae, I reserached online, and mine really don't resemble them much, although I wish they were. cathyd gardener...If you'd like, I can shoot you some pics of mine to campare with what you have found in yours. Deanna....Nope, not the soldier fly. I don't have the heart to squash them, at least not until I find them entangled in the roots of a prized plant they are gobbling up!! I think I'll just put as many as I can find in my compost bin, and let them eat and poop out that to their satisfaction. When I screen the compost, I'll leave them out for the birds to munch on. That's right tj, I'll make them good to have around for something. I found a faq page in the soils forum, written by Monte, titled, "Large c-shaped grubs in compost pile". Mine seem to match this describtion - "You can identify them from other more destructive types of grubs fairly easily. They are an off white color changing to a dark grey at the tail end with a reddish brown head. They are considerably larger than most grubs, up to 2" in some cases. Say the size of a small shrimp. If you expose them they will crawl on their backs, legs in the air, to try and rebury themselves. This "upside down" mode of locomotion is specific to this species." This would be in regards to them being grubs of the Green Fruit Beetle. So anyways, now that you have all helped me figure out what these little creatures are, I'm still a bit confused as to whether or not I can put them in along with the manure into my garden beds. I was given a bunch of perrenial divisions several days ago, that I really need to get into the ground. And since these came unexpectedly, I don't have a bed prepped yet. So, I plan on digging up an area, removing as many weeds/grasses as possible, and planting them there. The only thing I really have on hand to amend the natural soil is this aged manure. I'll add some transplant mix w/ mycchorizae into each hole, mulch the top really well, and hope for the best. Should I pick out as many of these grubs as I can out of the manure before digging it in? This bed is really going to be one big experiment anyways, but I really don't want these grubs munching on the already severely stressed roots of these freebie plants. By the way, they are yarrow, iris, coneflower, rose campion, rocky mountain penstemmon, coreopsis, and some kind of sagelike thing. So, if any of these survive, I'll have a nice little perrenial bed. Katherine