compost help

Hi i am new to composting, i am currently dumping grass cuttings, hedge clippings and general weeding from around the garden into a open pile, which is surrounded by four walls which i throw in from the top, i have a small veg plot beside which i would like to put fresh soil in 2011, will this be possible, does it take 2-3 years to fully break down into soil? can you introduce earth worms to speed up decompostion? and will it be affected if i dont throw any kitchen waste cuttings peelings.

regards

 

If you just dump grass cuttings and weeds in your heap it will take longer than a year to rot down and you'll most likely end up with a soggy mass (unless you've got loads of grass and can build up a lot of heat in the pile). Earth worms won't help as they live in soil, if you want to get worms on the job you need to introduce tiger or brandling worms as they recycle veg matter.
Ideally in your situation you should add lots of 'browns' i.e. paper, cardboard, shredded hedge clippings, leaves etc as that will help balance the highly nitrogenous 'greens' by adding carbon. Your kitchen waste could be added too as it will all help.
Our main heap runs on a 2 year cycle - we build it one year, turn it over after 12 months (and grow potatoes in it) and then use it after 24 months,and by then it is beautiful compost.

 

hi thanks dave i like the idea of the two year cycle and the introduction of potatoe crop to improve the soil. using shredded waste and waste paper will be good also. thanks for the great help.