My new compost pile has reached cruising temps.

[Gold Metal Flake]

This is my first compost pile. I used four pallets to form the sides and have been filling it with a mix of grass clippings, dry leaves, kitchen veg bits like coffee grounds, lettuce, lime, apple & pear peels, potato, carrot and other veggie/fruit stuff (nothing with oil like leftover salad and nothing animal). I also added dirt with pine needles and stuff and some plain cut up cardboard to try to balance the large amount of cut grass as per the How To Grow More Vegetables book.

Anyways, it's about 3 weeks old, and I just put a long BBQ thermometer in it and it read 150 degrees. I think it's working!

Goal is to have this thing full of composted shtuff by next January and then I will prepare veggie beds.

Any good compost pile dos & don'ts? How do you keep ants out of it?

[TygrBright]

1. Don't worry about the ants...

...they don't do any harm to the compost and they help keep it aerated.

If you have rodental-type critters in your area, you might want to stretch an 18" strip of 1/2" mesh hardware cloth around the bottom of those pallets--rodental teeth would be through them in no time. Generally there's little risk of critters taking much of an interest in a "cooking" pile, but now and then someone will investigate if you've dumped in some fresh veggie peelings, and if it gets really cold in your area, someone might think it's a nice place to hole up for the winter.

Check it every now and then, turn or stir it every now and then. That's all. Compost, once it's "going," is the lazy man's friend, making black gold with hardly any effort on your part!

helpfully,
Bright

[Gold Metal Flake]

2. Cool!

I can see little critters (and we do have field mice and some rats around here) might like the edges of the pile, but the heat in the middle is a built in security device.

I like to mix the new stuff up with old and cover it with stuff from the edges to kinda hide the fresh smell.

Man, this is too easy. I should have been doing this for years.

[trashcanistanista]

3. Ants indicate your pile is too dry

You need to keep it moist so that it feels like a wrung out sponge. You've got your peak temperature, when it drops back down, turn the pile so that it can heat up again. It goes through a period of heating and cooling and it can very well be just a matter of months before it's completed. Always keep the pile moist. Good luck!

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Congrats!

It's amazing how easy it is, once you get it cooking. Since you're turning some with each addition that should help it cook, and as another poster said watch the moisture level. The sponge idea never sank in with me but I got so that I could tell by turning one forkful whether I needed to added water. Adding brown material with your lawn clippings is very smart. The only time I've had a pile smell funky was when the lawn clippings compacted.

In the cooler season my pile was hosting a fence lizard. I guess he figured it was a buffet line. I don't have insects in the pile in warm weather but I do in the off season when I don't take as much care with it. I've never had ants.