my compost is sludge

dont know what im doing wrong, ive got one of those black plastic compost bins from the council, ive been filling it with kitching waste (no meat or cooked foods) also grass cuttings and weeds (grass makes up about 25%), the normal sort of things, i mix the grass cuttings in so there is no thick layer, 100's of little fruit flies and other insects like earwigs but no worms, no a single one!! as the compost rots down it is turning into more of a sludge than compost, the bin is placed on soil so there is drainage, anyone got any idea whats gone wrong????

 

Elkhorn, you need lots of 'browns' mixed into the bin. Things like leaves, shredded branches (if you have a shredder) and almost of the cardboard you'd usually put in your waste bin for collection.
We have a kitchen caddy and as well as all the veg trimmings,egg shells, stale bread and uneaten cooked veg we add used kitchen roll, loo rolls, crumpled up newspaper (we usually put a sheet in the bottom of the caddy) and we also rip up and store any cardboard boxes to add to the daleks in layers.
About 15% to 25% of what we add to the bins is paper in one form or another.
If you really want to get the bin working quickly, as well as adding more 'browns' you should try to get hold of some brandling or tiger worms - you can buy them on the web or else pop into your nearest shop that sell supplies for fishing.

 

I reckon your grass clippings is the problem. I would stack them next to the compost bin in as thin a layer as you have room for, let them dry out (assuming we get some Sun!) and then add then a little at a time - if you mow the grass once a week you should be able to add all the grass by the following week. Its adding it green that is probably causing the problem.

Alternatively, if you still get a slimy mess (anaerobic compost, rather than the aerobic composting action that you need) then make a separate heap of the grass clippings - and let them form a slimy mess of their own. It will be fine to use the following spring.

And as Dave W said for mixing in other brown material.

You shouldn't have any worms, initially. The temperature of the heap should be really hot - too hot for worms I think. They will come in later when the temperature falls. If you aren't getting a hot heap, initially, then that's not a good sign either - although it usually just means that a) the compost will take longer to "make" and b) you won't kill weed seeds and any diseased material, which probably won't be too much of a problem (keep anything obviously diseased out of the compost bin), but the weed seeds will be a nuisance when they germinate.

 

An additional benefit of adding cardboard is that worms are very partial to the fish glue use in corrugated card.

 

I add shredded paper too. Mine did go slimy but it seemed to sort itself out after a bit. I've got one of those compost stirrer things too. I also get some seaweed and get my hubby to pee in a bucket and add that as they're are activators

 

"and get my hubby to pee in a bucket and add that as they're are activators "

Blimey, you're a smooth one alright ! :D

 

would you believe i took a car load of cardboard to the dump yesterday, just before i made my post!!!!! must admit the only stuff to go into the compost bin was green stuff, veg peelings and that, all soft. grass cuttings are not the problem with me as ive a tiny lawn and add the cuttings a few handfulls at a time forking as i go, does sound as though i have a problem with the browns, thanks Dave. the grass boarding method sound interesting JWK, i'll try that out. and thanks for the tip on shredded paper little miss road rage (love the name), can you use the shiney paper or is it just the normal paper and news paper? seaweed? shame i live about a million miles from the coast but i can certainly add pee. and Kristen thanks for the info on weed seeds, i'll keep an eye on the temperature, Elkhorn

 

"can you use the shiney paper"

I think so. The worry used to be that the inks were carcinogenic, or somesuch, but I think they are all vegetable dyes now, and thus safe. But take a second opinion please!

"i can certainly add pee"

Highly recommended!

 

Well, I've only just dipped in to this thread, but I'll pile in anyway. I reckon the most important ingredient is **time**. It takes ages to fill up a "dalek" and then a few ages more. Eventually, when it's knee-deep in worms, and probably only about half as full as you expected, then another year would see it ready.

Stick with it. You will be pleased wit the result.

 

tell you what i'll do, i'll put out another post about the shiney paper, thanks

 

We've two 'daleks' with well established worm colonies and we take out about two thirds of each 'dalek' every six months.