Turning Compost Pile
I have a huge pile of compost building up with all the necessary compost ingredients. I need to know how do I turn such a huge heap. Are there any tools that might help. I am currently using a shovel to move the layers up and down but that is quite time comsuming and the result is not 100% good.
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rainbowgardener
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Don't turn it!
Here's what I just wrote to someone else's compost question:
"If you've read any of my posts on composting, you know I'm a believer in the KISS method (Keep It Simple) ... I pile yard waste, fall leaves, kitchen wastes in a wire bin. I turn it over 3 times a year when I want to get to the finished compost at the bottom, making the top stuff into the bottom of a new pile. Just did that over the weekend. Never turn it in between. I don't cover it. I do water it if conditions are dry, which means never this season.
Works great! When I turned it over this weekend the stuff at the bottom was actually steaming! That doesn't usually happen for me. But between the fact that last fall I brought home bags of other people's leaves so I had a better balance of green and brown and the fact that we've had so much rain so the pile stayed moist, it heated up more than usual. But even without that, my usual warmish but not hot pile breaks everything down just fine... "
Just let it sit and break down.
If you want to get really ambitious, you can push a stick down through the pile a few times, leaving some holes for air circulation.
Here's what I just wrote to someone else's compost question:
"If you've read any of my posts on composting, you know I'm a believer in the KISS method (Keep It Simple) ... I pile yard waste, fall leaves, kitchen wastes in a wire bin. I turn it over 3 times a year when I want to get to the finished compost at the bottom, making the top stuff into the bottom of a new pile. Just did that over the weekend. Never turn it in between. I don't cover it. I do water it if conditions are dry, which means never this season.
Works great! When I turned it over this weekend the stuff at the bottom was actually steaming! That doesn't usually happen for me. But between the fact that last fall I brought home bags of other people's leaves so I had a better balance of green and brown and the fact that we've had so much rain so the pile stayed moist, it heated up more than usual. But even without that, my usual warmish but not hot pile breaks everything down just fine... "
Just let it sit and break down.
If you want to get really ambitious, you can push a stick down through the pile a few times, leaving some holes for air circulation.
RG is right!
You should give it a quick turn once the compost is half-full but otherwise just leave it be & start a new one when it's full. Thats what I do; I just dug a hole in the middle to promote the air circulation but otherwise I just stab it with the shovel every now and again to mush down new additions.
If you really want to get into composting there are lots of commercially available compost tumblers, but they aren't necessary.
You should give it a quick turn once the compost is half-full but otherwise just leave it be & start a new one when it's full. Thats what I do; I just dug a hole in the middle to promote the air circulation but otherwise I just stab it with the shovel every now and again to mush down new additions.
If you really want to get into composting there are lots of commercially available compost tumblers, but they aren't necessary.
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gixxerific
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stella1751
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