u/NextCycle

I thought you lot may be interested :)

Pics are first yesterday when I prepared a bunch of cardboard and showing what a beast this shredder is. Processing the cardboard into long strips is the way forwards! I'm using the top of bicycle boxes here, pretty thick stuff. I'd added a fair amount of material yesterday, wide crappy shot shows that. I then added some chopped green beans and a bunch of cardboard and night and mixed it in.

Rest of the pics show today's addition which has brought the level very high. Lots of cardboard mixed in - I'd add a lot of greens, throw them around, add some cardboard and just mix them together, and then do another layer.

Can't wait to see how this pile turns out! You can see my post here https://www.reddit.com/r/composting/comments/1w07tzs/3_weeks_of_curing_from_my_pallet_heap/ which is the cured material from my last batch in the heap, and it didn't get this big and the material input has been way better this time around, so I look forward to how it'll be once cured

I'm so proud of this! I removed the top 2/3rds of my pallet heap and put it onto a tarp and moved the bottom third into this plastic bin to cure. 3 weeks later and it is really good.

I only started the heap in May and it's my first time composting. Volume really matters! As soon as I got a lot of material into the heap the effect was noticeable - a lot of heat, constant shrinking - took ages to get it to feel full. I always do layers of green followed by a ton of shredded paper or cardboard.

I was worried that I'd ruined my pile after the rebuild as the volume was much smaller, but after a few re-feeds and ensuring that I'm focused on getting the edges packed fairly tightly, it feels like it's running well again and I'm thinking that my new batch will be even better (last pics)

My monster of a marigold! I started a bunch indoors in late Feb / early March and left it rootbound for far too long, and underwatered before planting outdoors, and this one has absolutely taken off :)

I built up this bay in early April, it's around 1mx1m and maybe 70cm tall currently. I've basically overhauled my whole garden and started off trying to compost these thick, thatchy clumps of matted grass and had it in these waste bags with no air and just nothing was happening I got my mixture balance totally wrong with barely any browns. So, eventually I built the bay, took these 3 waste bags and combined all their material, broke it all apart and mixed in an absolute ton of shredded paper, and re-piled into my new bay in layers and wetting it, and I've been slowly building up since.

I've probably added 12 layers over the last 3 weeks alone, always in a green/shredded cardboard combination. I was ripping all cardboard by hand but have found a way to get my 6 sheet paper shredder to be able to take thick cardboard.

I made an addition on Tuesday of "weed tea" that's been brewing for 3 weeks - just a ton of cut weeds added into a bucket with water and covered and left. I dumped in all the 'water' and the remains of the weeds too and covered it all with cardboard, and wow. My pile's never ran so hot! I mean, it always runs hot - if I put my hand on the top of the tarp you can feel the heat radiating (and when removing it) - and steam comes out when I turn it.

I'm giving this a turn mid-week and maybe next Sunday I will move the bottom 1/3rd or whatever into the plastic 'finishing bin' that I'm using - I've built up this bin since February and got it full several times, it breaks down and the level drops, and I deciding to leave it and to build up the bay. I've left it for about 7 weeks without any additions and it's looking great, I've used it across my plot for some top dressing :)

So I'll sift all this out which is about 150L and then rebuild the bin with a load a hopefully half decent from the bay and restart the build-up of the bay again! I'm hoping that I can get 3 full bay's worth of material a year which may provide with about 800L annually which is probably enough to never have to buy any again. Not bad for a first year!

I'm pretty proud!

This is my first year gardening and I started these Rooster potatoes from a bag I bought from a supermarket and let sprout for a few weeks. Started them 21 March with 3 potatoes in a 40L bag and hilled up as shoots emerged.

Got 4.1KG in total which I think is pretty ace! I have 7 more potato bags and about 15 potatoes in the ground as an experiment. (check out my potato empire)

I absolutely love potatoes and I made a meal of the really small ones fried in oil and garlic with some rosemary and chard picked from the garden right then, too.

And I just finished up an unreal meal of air fried chips (fries), cheese, ketchup & mayo. I am super impressed! can't wait to see what my other bags have in store :)