My husband loves to compost. I love to garden. His bin is very robust. He is convinced this is ready to go in the garden. I’m used to using commercial compost with no chunks in it. So I ask you folks.. would you consider this ready for use? Or does it need more time (and maybe carbon)?
by dejoam
8 Comments
Looks pretty good. You can sift it to get the chunks out. Toss the chunks back into his bin.
On another note what is the attachment shown here? I think I need one.
I made a frame from scrap 2×4’s and secured 1/4” hardware cloth to it. I place it on a wheelbarrow and dump shovels of compost into the frame (1/4” hardware cloth on bottom of frame) and work it around until all the fine stuff is in the wheelbarrow and the rest is in the screen frame. It works well for me. Not an expert but I garden successfully for the most part
Let it dry out and sift it
I guess if it’s not hot, it’s ready to use? I’ve used “unfinished” compost before, esp since I cold compost on my apartment balcony! If you’re worried about it burning plant roots, you can use it as mulch on already established plants (not seedlings) and if you’re worried about bugs you can cover it with a little soil or mulch, or just bury it. It’ll disappear quite quickly! Sure it’s not as versatile as store-bought compost, but you can still use it!
That is good enough. It’s broken down 90% and it’ll continue to break down in the ground also. Time it with your gardening needs and how full this bin is instead.
No. And it could be sifted.
Like others have said, it’s probably fine, but I’d like to ad to that that it also depends on how you plan to use it. Some plants don’t mind and actually prefer unfinished compost while other plants only do well on ripe compost.
I would let this sit for somewhat longer.
It looks to wet.m, dry it out. Sift it, use the sifted stuff and let the rest compost further.