My compost bin is 4 years old,i top up everyday with the usual.it just disappears!havent had any compost..why?

Question

its always 3/4 full!

Answer 1

Have you been adding moisture to the pile, aerating it every few weeks and adding the right amount of brown and green compounds?

Don't let the compost dry out...that pretty much stops the decomposition.  Four years is definitely a long enough time for good compost.  I think the pile just didn't get any water in.

Answer 2

Oh....the art of composting....

It's not what's on top that matters!  

Topping isn't the only thing you need to do.  You need to flip it, water it and aerate.  Sounds hard, but it isn't.  Now...I assume you mean a ground bin, not a tumbler....so...that's where my answer is aimed...

By just adding to the top, the bottom is the only thing that is cooking and actually composting, and the reason it's always 3/4 full will be evident when you flip it and dig down about a foot into where your pile is now.  You'll find your dirt!! (and lots of very happy worms)

Not to worry....here's how to fix this and have a good amount of wonderful black gold to use THIS year when doing your fall garden set!!

If you have your current pile in a framed in unit, this may be a little more difficult, but....I'll get to that later...

Lay a layer of newspaper (black and white only: no funnies and no waxie inserts or coupons)....next to your pile about 1 inch deep.  Make it the same size as your current pile.  

Flip about 4 inches off the top of your current pile.  

if you have grass or eggshells, or any other organic matter (like manure to speed the process) put in as much as you can, but remember....you need some for however many layers you think you might have....don't stint though...you don't have to flip the whole thing in one day.....

Water each layer well, but don't drown.  

Repeat until whole pile is flipped, or until you run out of organic matter to add.  If you run out of goodies first...stop for the day...it's not going anywhere!!

Either way: when you reach the bottom of the first/original pile, you'll be at the good stuff. (and remember what I said about that foot of soil that has cooked and compressed in that area....dig it up!!)

Now....

By the time you start to do it in reverse...it will probably be fall.  You'll have that 1 foot hole to deal with.  Rake all your brown leaves into it, sprinkle it with lime, and start your flip!! Now remember....it's going to be winter soon (and I don't know where you live!!), so...get something that can generat a little heat!  Manure!  The fresher the better! and chicken/poultry manure is the hottest!!

Now...When you get the the bottom of the second pile.....the one that is currently the top of your single pile you should find: GOLD!! (unless it's been a really cold winter!!) Just keep going back and forth over the years.  I had a huge pile and space: 10 feet long and 3 feet high/wide.  I set mine in a five stage setup so that by the time it was gold, it was at the edge of my garden.  I didn't even have to barrow it in!!

The more organic matter you incorporate, the faster the cook, the faster you can flip, the faster you'll have black gold!!

Now...as to water and aeration.  The little microbes/enzymes that work this magic need water and oxygen.  I have PVC pipe with holes drilled in it that I insert in the pile in various places.  This allows air in, and gives me a way to water the interior as well as the exterior.  This means I don't have to soak the whole pile to keep it cooking and constantly loose my compost tea to the wormies who love living in / or under) my pile.  It also means I don't stir up that blasted toad that winters over in the pile....at least not until spring...and he needs to be woken up any way!!

If you don't have PVC pipe for this....Lay some sticks (largerish) across the area in both directions.  You won't be able to use them the same way for watering, but when you wiggle them for aeration, you can also insert the hose for a good dousing!

Now.....Like I said above, if you are using a boxed in unit it's  slightly more complicated for the first year fix:  you'll either need to buy another and do this the way I've done above, or......since I know the silly things are very expensive....(and how would I know this?  hmmmmm???....silly me...).......do this in halves the first time, by digging out the top half onto a tarp, removing the bottom half onto a second tarp, now follow the instructions above starting with the "raw" in the bottom of the now, empty box and finishing with the "cooked" (that was originally the bottom) on the top.  The trick though is to  only "fill" the existing box one half at a time so that you can do the two sided flip in the future.......

(Small note on that "shovel"...... I use a pitchfork for aeration reasons)

now...see.....You aren't missing any compost.....it was just a hidden treasure!!

Good luck and happy gardening....

(and please forgive the typos and such.........my hands are meant for the garden, not the keyboard)