Waste of time?

I am told not to do it, but so desperate for masses of compost I have layered loads of grass/moss cuttings with hay/straw/barn floor dus (and a few dead rats) mixed with garotoa - will it make good compost or have I wasted my time?

 

I don't know about the rats...

 

Cant see why it shouldn't Waco.
As long as there is a large enough stack to heat up, I would guess that all will be OK.

 

Thanks - I am going to leave it much longer than my normal heaps.

 

Pete, I have just been reading a book on moon gardening. In which the author says that if you want a compost heap to heat up it must be a minimum of 10 foot by 10 foot by 6 foot high. He says if it is smaller it won't heat properly.

Having said that, a small heap or just a few bin bags as I have, will eventually make compost. The differance is that in a hot heap the temperature will kill the seeds of any weeds. But in a cold heap it won't.

Waco, if you get a good mix of greenery and dry material I think it should work very well. What you really need to go with your grass cuttings is a six foot pile of newspapers!

 

I think compost heaps can be hard work, you do need a size big enough for the heat generated to be hot enough to kill weed seeds you need to turn it to ensure the edges have their tun in the middle,you need three on the go in different stages to keep a constant supply, great if you have the room and material source but for the small gardener I would recommend a wormery

 

I have just reduced my heaps from 9 to 7 due to lack of horse, however I have ordered plastic bins to keep near the house for kitchen waste - its a long way to the bottom of the garden, so I have been lazy about composting it.

I have managed large heaps in stable yards, but even good horse muck heaps don't get rid of thistles, nettles and creeping buttercup.

Newspaper though? Have a greatr supply of that if I need it from next door but I think it would probably have to be shredded?

 

Yeah Waco - I had a super wupply of marvelous horse manure - but unfortunately, it introduced the awful creeping buttercup - which I am fighting still, years later!

Newspaper doesn't need to be shredded - but it does need to be scrumpled, so that it doesn't just lie in flat layers (it will still remain readable in a couple of years time!) I compost loads of newspaper from my guinea pigs' bedding - and add it in balled pieces, which works better. I also compost cardboard, which works just as well.

 

I don't find that I can read my newspapers in a couple of years from composting because by then it has rotted down to a nice crumbly mixture and been used in my garden and allotment

 

so are you saying it will take two years for newspaper to compost?