New sheet compost bed, how long let it "sit" befor

[annafaie]

I know this is an old post but can someone tell me....if you start a sheet compost bed, how long do you have to let it "sit" before you plant? I ask b/c I am preparing my bed now to sit over the winter. Our last frost is in mid-March so it will only have a few months. Is that enough time?

[2cents]

Try planting onion sets early March in a corner of the new garden, if they take off, you should be good to grow most things this year.
I like to start each new garden with just bush beans. Legumes take nitrogen from the air and add it to the ground and this helps other plants in future years.

The key is you don't want the roots of your plants touching too much woody material the first year without it having adequate composting.

If you want to put in, say tomatos, make sure the wood is pushed out of the root hole before planting.

Well composted woody material will be okay. even if some of it still looks like wood.