Mine has suffered from my benign neglect a lot this summer. My husband wanted to dump in some grass clippings about a week ago. I had just showered, didn't want to get hot, sweaty, and dirty again, so I let him do it alone. I did caution him to add lots of leaves with it. Well, he flunked. It was so stinky for the past few days.
Today we have an unseasonably cool morning, so I decided to check the compost. Still stinky, temp with my compost thermometer was 132°. I broke my own rule of thumb and decided to flip it even though it was still hot. He had added way too much nitrogen (grass) and not nearly enough carbon. And way too much water! It weighed a ton as I flipped it. I generally don't let my husband add to the compost himself, and now again I won't. That man has watched me build compost for over 20 years. You think he'd learn something.
Karen
