My neighbor called my compost setup 'just a fancy trash pile' and honestly, it stung

For about a year, I just threw all my kitchen scraps into a plastic bin in the backyard. I figured it was fine. Then my neighbor, who gardens a lot, walked over and basically said it was anaerobic and smelled because I never turned it or added browns. He was right, it was a wet mess. I bought a simple two bin system for $60 and now I layer in shredded paper and leaves. After two months, I finally have real dirt. Has anyone else had a compost wake up call? What's your brown to green ratio?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_dylan23d ago

Oh man, that's the realest start. My first pile was just grass clippings and it turned into a slimy brick. I aim for about two parts brown stuff to one part green by volume. A handful of shredded junk mail or torn up cardboard on top of the food scraps works wonders.

torres.mark23d ago

My neighbor's compost bin smells like a swamp every summer because he just dumps lawn waste in there. It's like people forget that balance applies to most things, not just composting.

hannah_davis23d ago

Check if his bin even has air holes. My cousin's smelled like death until we drilled some in the sides, because all that wet grass just packs down into a stinky brick with no oxygen.