Adventures in composting

For years, I'd researched composting, nervously reading about the fine line between composting and rot. I researched compost bins that requiring turning and were a bitch to put together. I read about worm bins and worm tea and worried about worms gaining freedom in my living room. I looked up techniques and formulas for the perfect compost pile.

In the end, after lots of conversations, I created the compost pile. Basically, I picked a small area of my yard between two large trees and started my pile, then covered it with leaves and some twigs. All through the fall and winter, I added to my pile. I would uncover it with a hoe, dump in my additions, and cover it back up. Over the spring, the pile got too big and I moved over to the other side.

Adding to the compost is a weekly event. I find that the compost in my kitchen breaks down faster when there are coffee grounds in it. One of the compostable corn bags that I got from PRFM totally broke down in my kitchen with a big hole that leaked compost tea all over my counter. Yes, gross.

A couple weeks ago, I moved back to the first section of the pile, where I was adding things last fall and winter. I was really surprised to see how black and soil-y it looked, much like actual compost! Today, when I uncovered the pile, I took a closer look in and was rather disgusted to see it teeming with what looked like a lot of maggots. I have to assume this is a good thing, but totally ew.

Anyway, I was originally planning to get a bin with a drawer so that I could actually harvest my black soil when it was done. After seeing the maggots well... maybe a just need to bring the shovel or maybe I will just stick with the pile. I know that when it's spring and I'm planting, I won't want to spend another $70 on soil...