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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Another compost ? - Help!
This is probably a silly question but I think we messed up our compost pile.
Last weekend DH and I were doing yard work and I asked him to rake up the old mulch (there wasn't enough room in the beds to leave it down) and put it in the compost bin. I wasn't paying attention to him but when I looked in the bin yesterday it is half full of dirt. I didn't expect sooo much dirt. Do we mix the new additions into the soil he threw in there or do we just pile it on top? I am afraid to add any water because I don't want a big mud pile. Ugh...I am tempted to shovel all the dirt he threw in there out but I don't have anyplace to put it. Help!
Re: Another compost ? - Help!
Do you have dry leaves or newspaper? You can add those if you are worried about too much moisture, but the dirt should be fine, especially if it was "healthy" dirt. Mix it in, then add on top or mix in additions, whichever works for you.
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
This. I wouldn't worry at all about "screwing up" your compost pile, that's not really possible unless you put something that reaallly shouldn't be in there, like meat scraps. Really, you're just making a place for organic material to rot. You can't really mess up letting something rot.
The dirt is fine, especially if it's healthy dirt like half-decomposed mulch. Mix in some leaves, shredded paper or cardboard, or newspaper, then water the whole thing thoroughly. The added material should keep it from turning into a big mud pile.
The only real guideline I think is important for compost is "equal parts green and browns help to break the compost down." That dirt your DH added will make good compost, once it's decomposed and mixed with decomposed organic material like leaves (brown) and kitchen scraps (green). We add kitchen scraps pretty much every day, and a big pile of browns every once and awhile when we rake or have half decomposed mulch like you did. We have awesome compost. Try not to think about it too much, it's just rotting organic matter
You're welcome! Compost is really worth the effort, I literally swooned while digging out ours to add to our front flower beds yesterday. I mentioned your post to DH, and he was like "Tell her not to sweat it, it's just rots!" I know I said meat scraps were bad, that's because they turn rancid and smell and can attract animals. They'll decompose and turn into compost too, but they're not really worth the trouble IMHO.