I NEGLECTED my compost bin for OVER A YEAR..My big mistakes and how fixed them.

I got a YIMBY compost bin as a gift in December 2018.

I built the bin soon after I got it. I put food scraps around January/February 2019.

During 2019, I would either keep my food scraps in the freezer or drop it off at a community compost.

I would keep my food scraps in the freezer. Oh boy, did it pile up in the freezer! My mom would get so angry with me. I gave up on home composting. I still occasionally dropped off my food scraps with LA Compost at their Elysian Valley location or at the Los Feliz Farmers Market (located at the USPS Los Feliz Branch)

Emotionally defeated, I even offered to give away. But when I came time, I knew I still had to clean it out to give to the new owner. That day never came.. because I was so afraid of what was inside. I didn’t look inside for a WHOLE YEAR!

I kept having this reoccurring nightmare that there would be maggots and mold. I don’t know if imagine then once or not.

Fast Forward to May 2020, I came across some Composting videos. I found out what my mistakes were. It gave me the confidence to open “Pandora’s box.”

I opened it and it was not as bad as I thought. It was all in my head. It had these big pieces of a paper bag, no visible bugs, spiderwebs, and shriveled up fruit scraps.

It’s been a journey since. Sometimes, there are lots of flies and that’s perfectly okay. They are part of the composting process. If it bothers you, put a layer of browns.
I checked up on it weekly and used greywater from our Korean Water filter/purifier to add moisture.

My pile keeps shrinking, which is a great sign!

BIGGEST MISTAKES

  1. NEGLECT

  2. MOISTURE- TOO DRY

  3. BIG PIECES

  4. LACK OF BROWN MATERIAL AKA CARBON

  5. NEWSPAPER CLUMPS

LESSONS/ TAKE-AWAYS

  1. Shred & MORE BROWN MATERIAL

    I bought a paper shredder on Facebook Marketplace

  2. Patience

    Eggshells and Avocado skins take longer to decompose

  3. Don’t buy Compost Starter.

    Trust the Process

  4. You need a sizeable amount for hot composting

    It will take about (4-6 weeks)

    3 ft x 3ft recommended.

Far-right: It was a HUGE MILESTONE getting it to “Steady,” but the next day the temperatures went down again and at that moment I knew I needed a bigger pile.

SustainableJoanne Kimsustainability, sustainable, compostComment