I've found that the BSF maggots create the moisture via their effluent and that BSF maggots themselves appearing aren't a sign of too much moisture. My compost is in a vented rotating barrel and pretty much always has BSF maggots, no matter what I do. I've just accepted them. I have noticed a few things--they're great at breaking stuff down and my compost rots much faster than before. They make effluent so make sure you're either filling the compost with dry stuff constantly or have a place for the fluid to drain. I keep a bucket under mine and dump the liquid on my fruit trees, they love it. The buggers can survive sitting in the tub in the sun in the summer in Arizona. As long as you turn the compost a few times a week it doesn't go anaerobic. I use the compost with the maggots in it just fine, it has never damaged my plants. The maggots have a distinct smell they create that kinda makes me gag but if the compost smells like vinegar or crazy putrid rot from a distance, you need to start draining the liquid and aerating. So, weird smell when in touching distance, yes. Terrible smell everyone notices, no. And, I've never noticed swarms of flies in my area. Pretty sure I'm helping support the local bird and lizard population with all the maggots.

Hi sandra christie, your last picture looks like a perfect mixture to me. The others looked a little too course and you wouldn't get good contact with the greens and browns if that's true. Keep the whole pile damp like a wrung out sponge and turn it every so often and that stuff will shrink, get loaded with worms and turn into the black gold we all crave here - that's after it heats up and breaks down some. Of course we've got winter to drag through and compost slows down considerably over the cold months. Hang in there, you're on the right track.

"I think my back hurts.." Hey Pete, if you only *think* your back hurts just keep on composting the way you are and soon you will *know* it hurts! LOL You are doing very well and I'm sure a lot of us would love to see pics of your compost operation. Keep going and you might end up with a system like Lloyd's! If you can get wood shavings they work well mixed with compost as a mulch. I use it regularly and the shavings disappear within a few months. Actual coarse chips from lumber mills are OK for paths but take ages to break down in my experience. Fresh wood chips from tree services are faster. So it all depends on what a person means by the term wood chips. Cardboard is useful placed between plants under mulch as weed/moisture control. Easier to work with than newspaper IMO. Paul, I never realized you live on Cape Breton Island. We have fond memories of towing a travel trailer all around the Cabot Trail back in the 70's. No one had told us that was ill-advised because of the grades. Of course we were from BC and didn't think the mountains were all that high! We also learned during that trip summer was over in the middle of August and we "enjoyed" a lovely storm coming off the Atlantic while we camped on the far side. Great memories!

Amy, Have they bored into the stem where it is white and damaged? I normally won't pull a pumpkin plant if it has secondary rooting and has a chance to keep growing and being productive. If you have a steaming hot compost pile, you can go ahead and compost the plant if you want and the internal temperatures in the pile should get hot enough to kill any pests that get into the pile via the plant. This fall or in early winter, incorporate the compost into the soil and then rototill it deeply several times over the course of the winter. That will bring any overwintering pests in the soil/compost to the surface and increase their chance of being exposed to cold temperatures and dying. Or, if you wanted, you could bring the compost into the house and sterilize it in the oven, which ought to kill any residual pests. I'd consider that as a drastic last resort, though, because it will kill all the billions of microorganisms in the compost that make it so wonderful and full of life. Pests may move to the Seminole pumpkins, but I've never had SVBs kill a Seminole plant and the Seminoles are so vigorous that they outgrow any damage done to them by squash bugs. The only way to grow almost all summer squash and most winter squash organically (except those that are C. moschata) without having a huge pest problem is to grow them under floating row covers or netting or screening material that excludes the pests from reaching the plants. Otherwise, you will find yourself battling them constantly probably 8 years out of 10. Every now and then we get a year when they are not as big of a problem as usual, but not very often. Some people have success spraying their plants with Surround WP. Here in the southern plains, we always have tons of squash bugs and squash vine borers---they are about as common in the summertime as house flies. Some years you can defeat them and get a great harvest and other years they win. Dawn