Shoveled snow off one of the raised beds in the garden so I could work the soil

[Kaleva]

Soil wasn't frozen but very wet. Surprisingly, there were quite a few worms.

Dug a trench 12" to 18" deep along the east side of the raised bed and using 2 5 gallon buckets and making many trips, I dumped about 1/2 of the contents of the 55 gallon barrel I have in the basement in which I had put kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, toilet paper rolls, egg shells and the like over the winter. I then covered it up. I repeated the process on the west side of the raised bed.

[Kimber432]

1. Gnats and flies and ?

Interesting. I had to squit composting in the yard because it drew rats. (The dog caught one and it was a big one). So, does this basement compost draw insects? Curious as to how this works. Is it better than say a garbage can outside?

[Kaleva]

2. No bugs or flies in the winter. It's quite cool down there.

Summer would be another story so I don't do that during the warm part of year.

During warm weather, I'll take the compostable material straight to the garden an bury it in a raised bed or raised row I am leaving fallow for that year. Worms and decomposing do their work.