Jen Fulkerson

the pile was about 118 to 120 for several days. I decided it's a sign I'm done. I mixed it around, and no more bad smell, and no more white stuff, so I feel good about letting it cure. It's still rough, but does look like compost. I guess once it cools the worms and other compost critters will help to finish it to what I hope is really good compost.
The leaves you can see it the photo just fell in the pile.

I refresh my beds Just before I plant in spring and fall. I remove what needs to go.  (I also garden year round, and find it difficult to remove producing plants to plant new plants that won't produce for a while).  I will mix what ever I have on hand. Today it was fish bone meal, azamite, green sand, bio live, a tiny bit of kelp meal, a little veggie fertilizer. all organic. I mix it in a bucket, and lightly sprinkle it on the beds. It's  not very much, but I figure especially since some are raised beds I need to replenish what the plants may have used. I want them to not only taste great, but be as nutritious as possible. Then I will top the beds with what I have. Today it was compost, potting soil, and soil conditioner. It's all organic. I work at a co-op, so if I can get a broken bag for a deal I will grab it, if you read the ingredients, they are all about the same. My beds are all filled with wood in the bottom, so over the years the soil level gets lower. I fill them as much as I can when I can. Even with my discount it can be pretty expensive. I'm working on making compost, but even though it's actually heated up this time I will never be able to make enough to keep my beds full. Then I water it well and plant.
I have to confess I enjoy the clean fresh look, and the the potential for amazing veggies, fruit, herbs and flowers to come.

A happy byproduct of this post is I've been pretty busy, and forgot when I turned my pile. Now I can see it was the 10th. Is been 135 to 145, so I guess I will turn it today after work.
Maybe for future piles I will make a flip chart, so if life gets busy I can keep track.

I got chicks from my work (co-op), so I raised them.
strange enough the rooster seems to be quite low in the pecking order.
I have no idea who is pulling neck feathers. It never happens in front of me. I don't think it's still happening. I'm not sure, but some seem to have grown back, and my flock is starting to look more normal. It very noticeable on the rooster.  Unfortunately I lost 8 chickens since spring. If I forget to close the coop at night a raccoon 🦝 will eat one of my hens. Maybe the feather puller was one that was eaten. Time will tell.

I watched the video Bryce recommended. I'm so glad I did because it always feels rude to refer to that guy, and now I know his name is William.
I think the video Bryce suggested is great for people who want extra support for compost. It's your typical compost video that leaves a lot of guess work for the viewer. The video I suggested is more for those of us who fail at compost. Though it's a pain to get 10 buckets (I didn't, but used the buckets I had to measure, and used what I had to hold the measured ingredients) It takes the guess work out of the browns and greens ratio. It's not unreasonably ridgid. I didn't have access to manure except chicken manure, and didn't want to try to get thousands of tiny piles of chicken poop, so I just added an extra bucket of greens to compensate for the missing manure. It seems to have worked fine.
Both are valuable videos. I would suggest if you totally suck at getting compost to heat, or can't get the carbon to nitrogen ratio correct, the compost video's William made as the permaculture consultant are a lot easier. He takes the guess work out of it.

Bryce is so funny you recommended that post because it's the same guy. Maybe he changed his YouTube channel, or has more than one.  
I'm pretty sure the main difference is time, and effort. The 18 day compost is done faster, but a lot more flips, so more labor intensive. The method I'm doing makes sure the entire pile goes through the thermophilic process, then let's the pile cool and the worms, microbes, and all the other compost critters finish the process for you. It almost feels like a hybrid of hot and cold compost???
Thanks to everyone for all the great comments, they have been helpful and encouraging.

10/10/25 turn #3 if I hadn't added anything along the way this might have been my last turn. As is I plan to turn it at least 2 more times, and I'm not adding anything new. Let's be honest, I don't like turning the pile. This is the most times I have turned a compost pile. Always before it wouldn't heat up and I would kind of give up on it.
I did water it because it wasn't dry, but no way damp enough to squeeze a drop of water from it. With any luck I will be done fussing with this pile in a week or so. The I just let it sit and cool down, and let the compost critters finish it up for a month or two.
The permaculture consultant guy who made the video & recipe I have been using put out a new video for cool weather composting.
https://youtu.be/STRqfk1VGwA?si=y4N4O2_V1M-5xZCy

3rd times a charm. It's starting to cool down and the days are getting shorter, so I would like the seedlings to get a little more sun. I don't want to have to move the seed table, It's heavy, and a pain to get level.
I built an other seed table. I have a top I made for one of my raised beds last year so I made the table just a bit bigger, so I can protect the seedlings  from the birds.  I made it table height so when I'm not using it for seeds I can sit at it and do whatever garden tasks need done. I could also throw a table cloth over it and use it as a picnic table in a pinch. One of my favorite things about it is it's not very big, or heavy, so I can move it to where ever I want it. It's far from perfect, I made it in an evening, out of pallet wood. I noticed I attached one of the sides wrong, so one side is a little wider than the other making it a little wonky. It wasn't worth taking it apart to fix it . I'm ok with wonky. It's functional, and it works for me.

In many ways fall is one of my favorite seasons. We start getting a little relief from the heat. My family and I love the veggies I can grow in the fall, and winter. Broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, peas, radish, beets, carrots, lots of Herbs.
The transition from summer garden to fall can be very frustrating. The ladybugs finally beat back the aphids, and the yard long beans are producing very well, but I need to get the peas going. Tomatoes are still producing, peppers are still going strong. It's so hard to pull out a productive plant to plant one that probably won't be eatable for months.
I complain about this every year. I just haven't found a good solution. I have started a bunch of veggies in pots so they at least have a head start.
This weekend I think I will choose 3 tomatoes that still seem to be producing well, leave them, maybe give them a little hair cut, and pull out the rest. Maybe remove beans from one side of the trellis, and plant peas on that side, then when the Bean stop producing I will pull them and plant peas, a strange way to succession plant.  
This year is especially difficult because I have neglected my summer garden. It's a disaster! For work I worked the garden cash register this year (I ask to do it) so I think working all day in the heat made it extra hard to enjoy my garden.  Also I requested wood chips in early spring, but didn't get them until early fall. I did weed my paths twice this season, but you would never know it.  I have to just buckle down and get to work. Every time I go out on my day off, I find something else to do. It's quiet overwhelming at this point. I know I need to break it up into smaller tasks, so I don't feel overwhelmed, and over worked. It's just tough to get started.

The pile shot up to 160 for a day and a half, then it went down to 140/145, so I waited 3 days.
Turned the pile today 10/6/25. Same as last time top goes to the middle, middle goes to the bottom, and bottom goes to the top. I can still see shredded cardboard, and some of the large veggies stems from my old pile (I cut some of the large stuff into smaller chunks) It's definitely doesn't look like good compost yet, but you can tell things are starting to break down.  The only bad smell was where I put a bunch of eggs. (I've been bad about gathering eggs, and also had a broody hen give up about 10 days in. I made a hold in the top center and put the eggs in it and broke them then covered them up. I didn't smell them until I turned the pile) I soaked a little cardboard and mixed it with the stinky eggs, and put them in the center of the pile. I also watered the top of the pile because it was drying out.
I don't love turning the pile, but it's not that big of a deal.  I figure I will turn it 2 or 3 more time, I have to watch the video again so I know when this part is done, and I can go to the letting it sit and cure phase.
I always worry it won't heat back up, but so far so good.
I didn't take pictures this time, because it's pretty much the same as last time.