Winter composting

I made good book progress today, so I took a 2-hour composting break. Just home, very tired.

It's supposed to be last warm day for awhile, so glad I got it in. We have 4 huge bins going now, so it's interesting to see their progress at different stages. None are "flaming" now, though, which excites me the most. I'm hoping to keep them warm through the freezing temps the next few weeks.

I'm puzzled at the worm population explosion in one of them. I've never seen anything like it. Grab a clump the size of a strawberry, and there can sometimes be 20 little worms there. Mommas must have laid eggs all over the place. It goes on and on like that.

I hope I wasn't a terrible homewrecker splitting up their families. I tossed at least a hundred into the two bins trailing behind it in the process: the one close January 1, and the one we're still adding to.

I slid opened the bottom wall on each of them, and dug out some of the bottom stuff to mix it up top. It was remarkably different in each. In one, a lot of cardboard had gotten wedged against the edge and wasn't really in on the process. On the one closed January 1, it was incredibly wet and sloppy down there. Way more than it should be. Unfortunately, I'd already used up my powder (coffee grounds and tea leaves that I dry out, and leaves I crush), so I gathered up dry leaves and smashed them up to dry it down a bit. I wish I'd known.

I got a lot of mixing done, and they're in much better shape now. I'm not sure why it makes me happy.