My neighbor laughed at my compost bin setup and taught me a better way

Last spring I was out in my backyard in Portland stacking a new compost bin I got from a hardware store. My neighbor Carol walked over and just started giggling. She told me I was making a classic beginner mistake by putting it right in the sunniest part of my yard. She said the heat from direct sun dries everything out too fast and kills the worms you want in there. Then she showed me her bin tucked under a big maple tree where it stays cool and damp. I moved mine over to a shadier spot near the fence and within two weeks my scraps were breaking down way faster. Has anyone else run into little tips like this from people who have been doing it for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

emery_young138d ago

Worms don't actually live in hot compost piles, they flee to the edges.

ellis.mia8d ago

Wait, are you serious? Because I've definitely seen like 40 red wigglers squirming around in the middle of my pile when it was steaming hot. I thought they were just tough little dudes who could handle the heat. Are you telling me they're running for their lives while I'm over here thinking they're thriving? That's wild, I've been bragging to my neighbor about how many worms are in my "hot compost" for months now. Maybe they're just survivors hanging out on the edges and I've been fooling myself this whole time.