spencer_thomas4•18d agoProlific Poster

Used to compost all wrong until a neighbor showed me why

For years I just tossed kitchen scraps in a pile and hoped for the best. Ended up with a stinky mess that attracted raccoons and never broke down. Then my neighbor Steve in Ohio walked me through his system last spring. He told me I needed a 3:1 ratio of browns to greens and to turn the pile every 2 weeks. After 4 months following his method, I had actual dark soil instead of slimy garbage. Has anyone else had to totally redo their compost setup after thinking they had it figured out?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_carter5117d ago

My buddy Dave from work had this exact problem. He was dumping eggshells and coffee grounds into a bin with zero dry leaves and wondering why it smelled like a dumpster behind a seafood restaurant. His neighbor finally told him he was basically making anaerobic sludge instead of compost because he never had enough browns. Dave had to start completely over with shredded cardboard and straw, and after two months of proper layering and watering, he texted me a photo of actual crumbly soil with worms in it. He said it felt like magic but really it was just math and patience lol.

lucas_johnson17d ago

Steve in Ohio sounds like my guy Bob from next door. I was doing the same thing just piling greens with no browns and it was basically a mud pit. He made me start with a 3:1 ratio too and that pile turned rich and crumbly in like 3 months, no smell at all.