BobK
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Location: Belmont, MA, USA

How Done is Done?

I have been using a steel trash can with a lot of holes in it for a year+ now, making sure I have 'browns' and 'greens' and now the contents look 'mostly' done. There's a lot of stuff in there that looks like compost, but the newer stuff isn't too far along.

It's not practical to fully separate the 'well done' from the 'new'.

What happens if I just dump the whole bin and turn it into the garden this fall? I can pull out some stuff that is obviously new, but there will be a bit of stuff that is part way..

Is this good for next year's garden? or Bad?

Thanks

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rainbowgardener
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If you dump it in the garden in fall and turn it in and then don't plant until spring, it will be fine! :)

What you describe is the reason for having two bins. Then you can stop adding to the first one and let it finish while you add to the second one. Works much better and you can actually have finished compost to use during the growing season.

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ID jit
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Location: SE New England: zone twilight or 5b... hard for me to tell some days.

As stated above, two piles/bins is definitely the way to go. If you have three spaces/bins, it makes turning a little easier,

I usually end up with mulchy compost - what looks to be brown heavy. I end up with a lot of lot of other than perfectly processed branches, twigs, stick, bark, etc in my compost, so it comes up mulchy. The Lignins in the wood take a lot of time to break down.

General rule of thumb is how it smells and feels. If it smells like you just turned over a log in the forest, or anywhere close to that, its good to go. Solid chunks or not.

Down side to putting in compost that still has browns in it is that those browns will steal N from the soil for a while. The N will find its way back in once the browns are consumed. The unprocessed browns will also act like a sponge and retain moisture in the soil. This is very good, especially if they are 4"-6" under the surface. Unprocessed browns or greens will attract worms into your garden as well, which doesn't have a down side, just free aeration and worm castings.

Unprocessed greens is what gives off that garbage smell. I wouldn't put it around plants, but would not hesitate to turn it into the soil if the smell wasn't too bad. It will break down in the soil, just not as fast and won't generate the heat needed to kill of the seeds and any other potential nasties.

Simple fact of the matter is that "Perfect Compost" only exists on the interwebz and a few people's delusions. The more work, time, water and air you give it, the faster it gets better, but in the end, it comes down to what it was made out of.

I built a screen out of 2x6's, decking screws and 1/2" hardware cloth that fits neatly over my wheel barrow. I use this when I need the more refined compost for mixing up potting mixes and the like. The stuff that screens out is just browns for the working batch.

BobK
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Location: Belmont, MA, USA

Thanks!

erins327
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Location: Houston, TX

I have the same problem. Been composting for years and never really get that 'black dirt' like compost at the end. Its more of a mulchy combination. If I am feeling ambitious, I take my metal chicken wire piece and sift it to make a more consistent soil type. But it takes time. Most of the time I'm pretty lazy and just use the compost as a top soil or a mulch spread in the garden.
Then I usually have to add a bag or two of soil just to keep the consistency that seed starting needs so its not too airy.

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rainbowgardener
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In my previous location in OH, I used to get beautiful black dirt finished compost. Then I moved down here to TN. For some reason my yard has very few earthworms (gradually more as I keep composting and working on building it up). Turns out in my add as you go, not very hot composting, the earthworms were in large part responsible for breaking down all the browns. Without them, my compost is also kind of mulchy, with bits of fall leaves and other "browns" in it. I think that means for my conditions, I need to put less browns in my mix than I am used to. If I make a compost pile that is heavier on "greens" (grass clippings, pulled weeds, kitchen scraps, etc), than I used to (I used to do more like 50:50 by volume), it should finish better. It also helps to make sure your pile stays well dampened.

DarrenP
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Location: Mid North South Australia; warm temperate climate

I use 2 tumbler bins for compost. When one's full, I leave it to finish breaking down while I start the next.
I've found the key to successful composting is to not have too much "brown" material. If you get too soggy from too much "green" material, it's easier and quicker to rectify.
I'm actually trying to balance my bin at the moment because I overloaded it with too much corn husks and pea straw at the start.

imafan26
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When I first started composting it was one of the lessons I had to learn. The first was that it was better to build the pile in a day than build it slowly. Second, balancing air, water, browns and greens. If you keep adding to a pile it will never really be done. At some point you need to stop adding and allow it to decompose. You only add water mainly. If it is too wet, then you can add more browns, if it is too smelly and slimy it has too much greens. Piles built slowly do eventually decompose but they aren't as hot and take longer. It is the lazy way to compost. Some people sift their compost in the end. The larger pieces are usually only partially decomposed and can go back into the next pile and the finished compost will be what falls through the screen. The more times you can turn the compost after it has heated up, the faster it finishes. I also put an air tube in the pile and used sticks and branches on the bottom to add air in the base.

I switched to vermicast instead because I don't have a lot of browns and I had mostly greens. I just add my newspaper, water, worms to a rubbermaid tub and the worms do all the work. I just have to feed them every 4 days or so and add paper and water as needed and empty the worm juice. Takes up a lot less space. Only thing is that both systems attract a lot of vermin.



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