Compost Pile help

Iv been hard at it in the garden the last couple of days and I have a massive pile of garden waste so that is now my compost pile there is everything from grass cuttins to sticks to plants now is there anyway to help it do its job quicker someone told me to put raw lime all over it and it will help break it down?

 

I used to put lime into my compost heap late in the summer to counteract any build up of acidity but I'm not sure it really did much good. I don't bother now and believe it's more important to keep the balance between green and brown items right. It's also beneficial, like John says, to turn the heap every so often even though it's hard work with a big heap or bin.

I've just had to dig out my bin and mix it all up again and add more browns to counteract excess stickiness. Composting is not quite the carefree and fun-filled process some local authority recycling departments pretend it is!

 

I agree...but we have one of those council supplied 'Dalek' composters. It sits at the back of the garden, behind the shed so gets very little sun. It only gets kitchen waste and cardboard (plus chicken droppings/bedding) as we have a 'green' council bin for garden waste. If nothing happened in it, the composter would be overflowing now, but it's still only half empty and I do get compost out of the bottom every now and again. Either way, it's still recycling the kitchen waste.

I tried stirring it after 6 months ago, but it was so dense the stick broke! Now I just make sure it gets good layers of brown and green waste and that seems to work.

 

In the garden there is no quick way to good compost. I normally reckon on 9-12 months to get a good compost. Commercial scale composting is quicker because the massive heaps generate so much heat. While our garden heaps get hot it is nothing like heaps of hundreds of tons. Also the commercial guys have machines that turn the heaps regularly.

IMHO you need three bins. When the first is filled then you start on the second, turn the first into the third when the primary heating has stopped, this will re-start the heating by allowing air into the compost. Turn the second into the first and keep rotating every couple of months. You should be able to harvest the compost every spring and autumn. I riddle the finished compost through a half inch mesh and return anything larger back to the newest heap. I am lucky though as I have created my three bins in an old pigsty yard by bricking the yard into three sections each of which is roughly a cubic metre.

 

I've found one of those compost aereator things a real benefit for my dalek bin. It's like a walking stick with a hinged flange at the business end which you push into the compost and then the flange opens out when you pull it out again. Great way of small-scale compost mixing.

Susanna

 

Can you remember where yo got your compost aereator, sounds ideal for my daleks.

 

I got it from a mailorder company. Either Dobies or Gardens Direct or something. I think they are fairly ubiquitous.

About the size of a walking stick, it was smaller than I imagined it would be - but very effective.

I found that I tended to knock out the bottom flap on my bin if I was too enthusiastic with it.

My next bin will have no flap I think.

It is very satisfying getting it all turned over - gives you a good idea of how wet or dry the compost is but it is a bit disheartening when you see the same old bit of potato coming up to say hello again and again :dh:

Susanna