"TheOldFellow" wrote in message
. ..

If it's going to work it needs to get:
1) Hot. This is the first stage of composting, and needs lots of
oxygen.
2) Airless. This is the second stage and why proper bins don't have
holes in the sides.
3) Wormy. This is the all important third stage, and why if you compost
on a concrete base you need to introduce worms. Ideally they start at
the bottom and eat their way up, so you take the finished 'product'
from the bottom. If you introduce them at the top, and are also adding
more fresh, you will cook the worms - this is not good.

That's interesting. When I kicked my composter off, it was sitting on soil,
so worms had a way in from below. But I also used to throw any worms I found
into the top as well. The composter works a dream, and I also seem to have a
worm breeding ground under the lid (it's one of the black subsidised ones).
Not sure how we have such fertile worms, if they are being cooked.

I'd shred the fresh stuff. If you shred the semi-rotted, it will:
a) contain stones (yes, it will) and wreck your shredder blades.
b) stick to everything and not exit the shredder properly.
c) drive you mad cleaning the shredder every two minutes.
I speak from experience on these three points.

R.