Making My Own Compost in a Bucket

I really should have asked the question before now, but this is the question or problem. I started to make compost for my organic garden, I used carrot shavings, potato peels, apple cores, banana peels, and whatever veggie scraps I had at the time. I threw in some dirt and a little water and made sure I stirred it up.

Now here is the problem, its been raining and more water got inside the little bucket of compost. The mixture has turned into mud and with the extra water it smells bad almost like someone took a dunk in it, but I thinks its the potato peels that stink. I still see part of the apple core, it's black.

My question is: Can I still use the bucket of mud as compost. Should I drain the water out of it. Or should I put more dirt in it, or just dump it in the garden. What should I do?

By Angie

Answers: Making My Own Compost in a Bucket

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By 09/22/2012

Drill holes in your composting bucket to let air in and excess water out.

By 09/10/2012

What you really need are some leaves or grass clippings. From what you listed, you have lots of greens but not a lot of browns. You want a ratio of 2 to 1 or at least 1 to 1, browns to greens. So at least the same amount of browns (grass clipping, leaves and other yard waste) as greens (kitchen scraps). To get rid of the muck, you can drain the water and add some dry dirt, then try to find some good yard waste to complete the recipe.