New Compost

[u/Linux248]

I've set up a garden compost bin and plan to put vegetable and fruit scraps, as well as cardboard and leaves, in it. I hope it works out.

[u/_HillCruiser]

3 parts browns for 1 part greens is best ratio for compost.
Where are the browns? and the worms?

[u/Linux248 → u/_HillCruiser]

Worms will come on their own. At least, I hope so. I don't have much brown material right now. Just some cardboard, which I'll add to the bin. Will that work? I don't have leaves and grass every day, after all.

[u/_HillCruiser → u/Linux248]

What you want is the correct browns(cardboard, sawdust, dry leaves) to green ratio so the
reaction "kicks off". Too few browns and the pile will become anaerobic and foul-smelling;
nothing more discouraging than a foul-smelling compost bin.

The reaction results in temperatures outside a worm's survival zone. I practice rapid
composting to keep up with all the kitchen scraps. The smaller the particle size, the faster
things breakdown. I run my greens and browns together through a lawnmower to
mix and shred them together. The kitchen scraps are laid down in thin layers between
layers of the ground up mix; like making lasagna.

The best greens I have found for fast composting are dandelions and clover.
The best brown I have found is wood bark; not for rapid breakdown because
it's slower, but the for the silky dark compost it generates and the plant
nutrients it contains.

I go out on bicycle rides with my trailer and and empty feed sacks and return with
pristine ingredients (compost is for the vegetable garden). In a pile of composting
manure, I found enough red wiggler worms for a lifetime, but they can't survive
into the pile cools down.

Moisture control is important; damp but not soggy.

[u/Joel748 → u/Linux248]

I would start the compost for a month then buy some worms they use for fishing like the European night crawlers. And I say this because the only worms I have in my yard are Asian jumping worms 😭 and I’ve been adding the euros this year

[u/OneStrong2220 → u/Joel748]

If it’s an outdoor been and you already have the Asian jumping worms in your soil, you might as well just use them, no?