Diary of a Compost Pile - May 22

Here is the latest in the ongoing series of diary entries by guest author Fertilemyrtle Rottenpile, the compost pile built during my Basic Compost Workshop. I am sorry for the long break, and I hope it did not disrupt the "narrative thread" too much. --- Eric

Dear Diary,

I know it’s been awhile, but I’m back --- it’s me, Fertilemyrtle Rottenpile. The last time I wrote, I was nearly out of my bin with excitement. After that amazing tumble and all the great food scraps, I got up to about 100 degrees the next day, and quickly climbed up to about 130. I held that for a long time. I was still at 130 on the day of the garden tour, nearly a week after the turning. I never got back up into those stratospheric high temps of my wild youth, but I was certainly able to hold my own.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a few more good turns, and I’ve had a few more additions of choice greens. One time it was a big bucket of food scraps, another time a bag full of Starbucks coffee grounds, and one time it was a bunch of fresh, green plants pulled from the garden --- Eric planted a load of California poppies for the tour and had to thin them as they got too big. That’s always the best --- fresh, green, succulent growth, buried deep in the pile. I can digest that kind of stuff in just a couple of days.

I don’t think I’ll ever get as hot as I used to, and I’m OK with that. Right now I’m just hovering around 80 degrees --- just about ambient temperature outside.



I’ve still got plenty of identifiable twigs and woody prunings. So I’m not what you would call “mature” pile yet, but I am getting there. Sometimes I look back at the way I was in the past, and I can’t believe how I behaved, the wild swings and ravenous appetites --- I am definitely maturing.

But now that I don’t get as fired up as I used to, I can start new hobbies, like collecting worms and other compost pile invertebrates. Maybe I’ll get a few roly-poly bugs to keep as pets. I wouldn’t mind a few more loads of coffee grounds to fill out the bin a bit. I’m definitely down a full third from where I started.



And maybe with a bit more greens I’d get a nice boost of temperature to remind me of the crazy old days. I might get up somewhere around 120 or so if I had a good turning and a good load of coffee. I’d like to finish off some of the coarser unfinished material I’ve still got before I get sifted and put out to pasture (or out to veggie garden, as the case may be).

-- FR