I have my first serious Compost pile going this year, in years past I have just gathered kitchen scraps in a garbage can with drain holes drilled in the bottom and dumped the entire contents into my garden in the fall.

So, now I have a pile that is about 4 foot by 4 foot and is fenced in by chicken wire.
its about 2 feet high, and consists mainly of grass clippings, and garden scraps from last season. I am concerned about the smell of the thing, as I live very close to my neighbors, and don't want to stink them out of their yard.
Is there a way to keep the smell down? I am vermicompositing in my basement, and was thinking about adding some red wigglers to my compost pile outside, will that work?

I have a couple of compost piles, one is 4 feet wide, 2-3 feet tall and about 12 feet long. I add red wigglers to the big pile every year. I cover it with a mixture of leaves and newspapers chopped up by lawnmower. This in the fall and worms survive the winter. I cover this pile with whatever I can find in the way of a cover; sheets, towels, black trash bags filled with leaves, etc. In the spring, I still have a multitude of worms, rich compost and no odor. Will start another one soon, scooping out the worms and adding to the new compost pile. If I have 3-4 inches of leaves and dry grass clippings, I don't have the odor. If I dig down deep enough in a new pile...whoooo...nasty smell there, but the worms take care of that. I think just cover adequately and the smell stays inside.

I bought 2 pounds of red wigglers, about 2000 worms, so That should be enough for that size pile right? what keeps them from going to the bottom of the pile and "escaping" into my garden?

If you put the right ratio of greens and browns in the pile and not get it too wet it should not smell. I try for a ratio of 60% brown (leaves, straw, chopped newspaper) and 40% green(grass clippings, weeds, kitchen scraps manure). Keep the pile about as wet as a rung-out dishrag. Should be no smell.

I was going to say the same thing leafspot said. You should not smell the compost pile if it is in balance. Find out what's missing...

A couple things to add to the pile if you can get them are straw, preferably after mowing and bagging it, and coffee grounds.I just rebuilt one of my piles tonight and it was full of red wigglers. I don't put them there. They just appear. I have 2 piles adjoined by a 4 foot fence. The worms go from one side to the other side. If your pile is well layered, there should be worms all through it, except during the times when it gets real hot. Mine cooled down a few days ago and it was time to get it cooking again.

So I don't have to worry about them running away? I just didn't want to spend the $ on them and have them dissapear on me.
How long will it take before I can use my compost? should I stop adding to it after a point?

If your compost pile is producing an offensive odor there is a problem. An Ammonia like odor indicates that there is too much Nitrogen and it is gassing off to the atmosphere and adding more high carbon material is needed. If the odor is putrid that is an indication that the compost is anaerobically (in the absence of air) digesting and the most likely cause of this is too much water which displaces the air needed by the aerobic bacteria to digest the material. Adding dry material and repiling what is there is the only solution.
Compost should never smell offensive. Compost should always smell like good, rich earth.

Some of the worms will venture out, but they tend to stay where the food is. Be careful when adding to the "worm compost pile". If it heats up too much, the worms will die. I take compost from a half way finished pile to add to the "worm pile." They finish it up for me. I have found that a several pile system works for me. I have a composting barrel also, and after it has heated up and is cooling down, I will add that to the worm pile. Don't use green grass or fresh manure in the worm pile. Both of those will heat up too much for the red wigglers. I do find red wigglers all over the place, up to 30 feet away from the original pile. It's okay if they get into the garden. As long as you have a good food supply for them, you will have plenty of worms, probably forever.

I was also thinking about putting a large (3 or 4 inch) PVC pipe with many holes drilled in it into the middle of my compost pile to help air get to the middle of the pile. My hope is that it will keep the pile cool enough for my worms to be happy and help with air circulation.
Is this an okay idea? will it even help or am I way off in left field?

So how large is your compost pile? In reality any compost pile less than 6 feet by 6 feet does not need extra ventilation unless the pile is so wet that the excess water excludes any air infiltration. Way back when Sir Albert Howard found that air infiltration was more than adequate in a properly assembled compost pile smaller than 6 x 6, beyond that size air infiltration can be problematic.

4X4, so I guess I won't bother with that. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by lindagee:
I have a couple of compost piles, one is 4 feet wide, 2-3 feet tall and about 12 feet long....

Linda, you have just given me a new harebrained idea.

Right now I have three piles in three different locations in the garden, a three year old pile, a two year old pile and a "new" pile, started last fall that I am currently adding to.

What if I piled all of it together in one long pile, continuously adding new materials to the south end, and pulling finished compost from the north. At the end of the growing season, I'd toss whatever was left in the pile to the north and bed it down for the winter in a layer of rotten hay.

I have a reasonably concealed, relatively sunless spot where this could work quite well.

What do you all think?

I like the idea. The red wigglers can go where they want to and never leave the pile, even if part of it is cooking.