Annpat: Oh yes, as soon as I get your address, IÂll be sure to put the compost in the mail. IÂll even send it with a return receipt, so IÂll know exactly when it gets to your certification facility. I assume the certification process will not take too long and IÂll soon be getting a very pretty, glittering certificate in the mail. I canÂt wait! As for the fish parts, I think the best way to deal with them is throwing them into a hot compost pile. If you really want to bury them in the garden, not only should you bury them in a deep trench, but add a good 6-12 inches of soil on top. ThatÂs how a next store neighbor of mine did it, and he never had animal problems. He used a three row method: the first row was for plants, the second to walk on and the third to bury his refuse. Not only did he dig a deep trench to bury the scraps, but he would dig out from his walking path more soil to throw on top. This way as the scraps were consumed and the soil settled, he would still have good coverage from critters. My family would supply him with fish all summer long (mainly blue fish and flounder), and he and his wife put all of their kitchen waste into their garden. They didnÂt have critter problems but had the most beautiful, lush garden I have ever seen. Happy Composting, PJ

I have two large bins (4'X4'X8') As one side fills, I start on the other side. It pretty much is a one year cycle. I turn the pile as best as I can. I have a lot of used coffee grounds and the pile stays pretty hot in the core. I have lots of worms in the pile. They move to the edges as the center heats up. When I start the new side, I take a few shovels of compost with worms and throw it in the new pile as starters. I have kept lots of worms in my piles for many years using this method. When I put the finished product in the garden the worms go with it. They are "red wigglers" and I am not sure what happens to them there, but I always say a small prayer that they survive and flourish as they have done in the pile.

That lettuce is a lovely arrangement. I blew up and examined your soil. Now, I'm feeling like a fraud. I didn't chop that wood, flora! I paid $700 for two split cords and had it dropped off in the middle of my driveway, then it took me forever to toss it through the basement window and pile it---mainly 'cause it kept pouring. I should get credit, though for my lovely end stacks. You couldn't tip that stack over with a backhoe. I'm that good. I could hardly think of anything else while I was piling it---what a great job I was doing. I know Cattywampus is a girl because of her outfit.

If you plan on adding a lot to it prior to harvesting the contents, there's no harm in having a large bin from the beginning. Before I discovered a municipal leaf, grass, pumpkin dump that allows me to take what other people bring, I only added stuff to my bin that I needed to dispose of---yard waste, food waste. It never heated up. I read once---I don't know if it's true, but I accepted it as gospel---that cold compost makes a product with better disease suppression than hot. My mother made more compost than almost anyone I know. She had no clue what she was doing, had no intention of harvesting anything, and she didn't garden. What she did was send two young children out to the "mulch pile" several times a day with bowls of peelings or the output of yard chores. All anyone really needs to do is walk a path to their bin, and dump anything that will decompose---without harming the environment or the sensibilites of those who may pass---and walk away. You don't even need to harvest it if you don't feel like it. Just think of it as a way to manage your household waste. Regarding the size of your compost set up, I'd like to imagine that having six bins lined up along the roadside gains me the respect of all who pass. I'd like to imagine that, but I've heard differently.