averyc94•26d agoMost Upvoted

My compost bin hit 120 degrees for the first time last week

I've been turning my pile in the corner of my yard for about eight months now, never really checking the temperature. I picked up a basic compost thermometer at the garden center on a whim. When I stuck it in the middle and saw that number, it finally clicked that all the grass clippings and kitchen scraps were actually working. Has anyone else had a moment like that where a simple tool showed you something was working better than you thought?

4 comments

4 Comments

caseywalker26d agoTop Commenter

Sometimes a simple number can make all that quiet work feel real.

michael80321h ago

Got a cheap rain gauge last year and felt like a genius for about a week. Turns out my "light sprinkle" was actually a full inch of rain. The tools just confirm we're all mostly guessing and sometimes getting lucky.

the_jordan26d ago

120 degrees is just a number on a stick... it's not like you won a prize. My pile gets hot without a fancy tool, it just happens. Seems like a lot of fuss over rotting leaves.

caseywalker26d agoTop Commenter

My cheap soil meter showed 60% moisture, proving my watering guesswork was way off.