Finally got to the compost pile! Wow!

So now you are probably wondering what the heck is AD talking about now? Compost.

Several years ago, I had these 10' rings of 3' green ski fence, and I used to flip my compost about once a week. The rings started to deteriorated, I looked into other options and found out how to do a compost box with pallets. I found it a pain to flip as the tines of my fork would get caught in the pallets, and the flip was over, only to try again, and then caught again. So I quit flipping my compost, and just let it settle on its own.

This spring, I took it apart and trashed the sides of the pallets and got rid of them, as they looked like I had a junkyard, not a compost pile. Summers grass, and flower cuttings, then the backyard leaves made quite a pile, which kept calling me to be flipped. So today, moments ago, I flipped the darn thing over. Wow.

What a compost at the bottom, covered with leaf mold, then this summers mess, and I dug and dug down mixing the compost. There was the bottom pallet, breaking apart like dust, and I mean the big pieces too! The bugs just chowed and I am glad I turned it to see what was going on. Not that it was all that hot, but this is not a big deal anymore, its just compost instead of throwing it away. And will probably get used in the spring, especially the bottom, as it was down right worm castings. Wow.

Excellent, Rob.
I don't turn mine - did it one year & hurt my back (lotsa compost piles with lotsa compost).
I layer it & let it go for a year. Doing this in succession allows me to make the piles on site or close to where I need them. I recognize this is not a practical solution for those living on smaller lots, but even digging holes & layering the components in them mid-Autumn will bring great results by Spring.
I am always amazed at what is at the bottom: worms are wonderful workers.

Love your compost descriptions. I figure Mother Nature knows how to decompose stuff if I am patient, so I don't turn my compost (as I also have had back problems), just rake off the top when I want to get at the lower part of the pile. then I make a new pile on top of the stuff that was not completely decomposed yet. I put a compost pile where I want to have a new garden bed sometime in the future.The worms get the spot started for me.

A few years ago I had a compost bin made out of pallets. It worked okay at first, but then nettles started growing in between the slats where it was hard to pull them out, so I dismantled it. Now I use a black plastic circular compost bin (actually 2 connected to make a wider diameter). This kept the dog from getting into the rotting matter, which he was so fond of, but it is a bit more difficult to get at the compost when I want to use it.

I love composting and love to turn it. I have 3 piles (already chipped and shredded) pile one is all of the spring or fall cleanup. I add a ton of manure to each one, sometimes I use the pelleted material, and they cook in the 3 months (summer), turning every 1 to 2 months and 7 months (fall), turning only once into a delight that give from my garden about 4 to 6 yards each seasonal pile. I have no patience to wait for nature to work it. I love the forking from one area to the next and each turn heats it up majorly. I place a sealed temp sender to my chair side in my sun room that lets me see daily how the pile is working, it is perforated to give me relative humidity also. My fall pile is only 56F but that is after about 3 months of below freezing temps. (-5F on Oct 5th)

Oops wrong picture.
My compost is on the left and far right. The center one is the torn bag pallets I buy all year from the big box stores and add it to my compost final product.

This message was edited Dec 30, 2009 6:10 PM