compost newbie

[Lavenia2]

:? My husband promised to help build me a compost bin while he was on vacation this past week. The problem is he didn't wait for me. He stored the leaves in our plastic garbage dumpster while waiting to build it. Well when he got things together yesterday, the leaves smelled sour. They had been wet when he placed them in the dumpster. Needless to say he was repelled by the odor. My question is should I throw out the leaves or just keep adding to them. They smelled better by lasst night, but now I have some dry leaves to put in it. Will this be alright or should I start fresh? Thank You for your help. :lol:

[Sanger General Store and]

Don't throw them out. Pile them in a pile in your yard that is your browns so just add some greens like grass clipping. The is also a compost starter that you can buy which includes all you need to jump start the pile. As long as you keep the pile microbs, oxygen and heat levels up there will be no smell. The pile needs a proper ratio of carbon-rich materials, or "browns," and nitrogen-rich materials, or "greens." Among the brown materials are dried leaves, straw, and wood chips. Nitrogen materials are fresh or green, such as grass clippings and kitchen scraps.

Mixing certain types of materials or changing the proportions can make a difference in the rate of decomposition. Achieving the best mix is more an art gained through experience than an exact science. The ideal ratio approaches 25 parts browns to 1 part greens. Judge the amounts roughly equal by weight. Too much carbon will cause the pile to break down too slowly, while too much nitrogen can cause odor. The carbon provides energy for the microbes, and the nitrogen provides protein.

[Lavenia2]

thank you. I have a man that goes to our church that rakes up his grass clippings so I'll ask him for some of his. We have tried to tell him to leave the clippings on the yard but he is convinced that his grass can't "breath with them on there. He should see our yard! Our neighbors say that it looks better than it has ever looked. We've lived here for 32 years, so that is quite a complement..... :roll: I think. Thanks for the information. I appreciate it. Lavenia

[Deborahrah]

Saturday I built my first compost pile. Using manure, fresh grass clippings and shredded oak leaves. I watered good between the layers. Three days later, I turned the piles completely over and really mixed things up, and watered it again. It seems to have shrunk about 1/4 in size. Am I supposed to cover it with something to keep it damp or to stop it from getting too much rain? How does that work? I plan to turn in another three days and keep to that sort of schedule.

[kbrew]

Deborahrah,
You can keep doing what you are doing (sounds like it's working), but it seems like too much work for me. :D
I like to leave mine alone and let it do its thing. I have never covered mine either. CaptainCompostAL can chime in here, but that's what I do.