Compost hasn't....

Can anyone tell me why our attempt to make compost has failed?

I lifted the plastic compost drum all fired up ready to dig the magic into the garden in a hope of making a veg patch....only instead of nice compost like yu see on the Tv, we have a pile of slimey gunge....what did we do wrong? There are some worms in it though.

 

Too wet

Stir in some shredded paper/card to absorb some of the dampness. It won't be "ready" any time soon though.

 

We have started a new bin for this year. I have to get rid of it, we don't have room to store it, so I am going to dig a deep trench and put it in and bury it. Will it mean nothing will grow where it is? Is there anything i should put in the ground with it to help it break down quicker?

 

Last year I dug a trench for some "not so lovely" compost from the plastic Darlek and no, it didn't prevent anything from growing there but I didn't plant anything there. What grew were nettles and brambles.
Not sure you would need to put anything else in with it, the soil, the warming weather should be enough. But, as I said above, a slimey sludge does indicate it was too wet, so my advice about adding shredded paper still stands.

As you are starting again you need to layer your waste with a balance of "greens" and "browns". If you fill it with say, all greens, you will still end up with sludge.
Greens: used teabags, egg shells, fruit and veg peelings, grass cuttings.
Browns: cardboard, shredded paper, prunings, cereal boxes, twigs, etc.
Turning the compost regular can also speed up the process (stirring it)

 

Thanks very much. I will make room for the plastic compost bin again by digging the results from last year in and we shall make a fresh start. At least it came out easily, like a blancmange! I shall get torn up newspaper mixed in with each addition this time - is it worth sprunkling in some sieved soil, or old compost from plant pots that are being re-filled? We have chucked the old pot compost onto the soil before. But if it would help with making goos, fresh compost, then I can make use of the pots we are about to empty byt putting the old stuff in the green bin.