My neighbor called my compost pile a 'rat buffet' and I had to rethink everything

I've been composting in my backyard in Phoenix for about a year, just piling up kitchen scraps and yard waste. I thought I was doing great. Then my neighbor, who's a master gardener, came over and was just like, 'You know that's basically a rat buffet, right?' She pointed out I was adding too much wet food and not enough dry brown stuff like leaves or shredded paper. She said a good pile shouldn't smell, and mine definitely did. So I started layering it properly, one part green stuff to two parts brown. I even got a cheap pitchfork from the hardware store to turn it. Now it heats up like it should and doesn't attract pests. Has anyone else had a composting fail that taught them a better method?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix1555h ago

Rat buffet" made me rethink my whole pile too.

hannaho524h ago

What did you end up doing with your pile? I had the same problem last fall and just started putting everything in a sealed metal bin. It stopped the problem overnight, but you have to stay on top of taking the scraps out to the actual compost.