Compost gone wrong??!!

Hello all

Its my first attempt at composting!! I only started about 4 weeks ago, and things seemed to be going well with plenty of heat radiating of the heap. However now Im not quite sure!! I have a mixture of peelings etc from fruit and veg, some grass cuttings, garden waste from eaten brassicas (egg free and catepillar free) as well torn up bits of cardboard.

There are loads of flies in the bin (possibly fruit flies?) What am I doing wrong or is this normal???

All sounds perfectly normal to me!

Fruit flies are only one of many types of flies and other little beasties you are likely to find, although they are one of the most prolific breeders (from egg to adult in about a week, which is why they were very popular with the early genetics researchers!)

You will find that nearly all the bugs disappear when the compost is finally ready. 

To do the job by the book you should now turn the heap to mix it all up. Either take it out of the bin and then load it back in, or load it into another adjacent bin.

In practice I usually manage to do this a couple of times during the year. It means that anything like lawn mowings that is in a solid layer is mixed in. It also tells you if the heap is too wet(cover it), or too dry (take the cover off or add water), or needs the balance of brown to green material altering.