I can see stems or sticks that are black, if they are like some I get in my compost they are rotten or snap into little pieces easily. The flat clumps or lumps of grass may be because you didn't fluff it up enough or mix it well when you turned it. Sometimes it clumps together so a bit more of a forking and shake action helps to let air in.
If the majority is brown and a bit lumpy it is still fine for digging in or a compost mulch, just pick out the biggest offending lumps and back into the bin?
Or is it fine stuff for making your own potting mix you want? Even I have to sieve mine.
Show us your leaf mould container/ bags. And turf mound.
I use daleks and "refined" technique over the years but still make mistakes. If it really is too much of a faff for you, and if it takes up space and time that could be better spent, that is understandable too. But practice makes perfect, or nearly when it comes to compost.
I don't think it looks that bad.
Thanks for the encouragement
Perhaps you’re right about breaking up the clumps, I try to shake them off the fork but usually takes a boot to get them off...Scissors?
The majority is brown but not the crumbly stuff Mr Don entices me with every season. I suppose I could sieve a few pots out and put the rest back into the heap?
Leaf mould...I have so much from the front garden I doubt the council bin would keep up with it. But this is two seasons of leaves, which I also watered occasionally through last summer:
The “turf pile”:
Last years dalek, today. I might combine this with this year’s heap...but it does have lots of wood Luce working on it so may leave it:
The leaf pile and the dalek look too dry. Maybe the dalek is OK underneath. I think Monty Don has a very wet garden, he has mentioned it before. My compost takes a lot longer than his.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I'd mix all those together in layers, leaves, turf and what's in the compost bin. Leave a few weeks then turn it. Please remember garden "compost" and potting " compost" are two entirely different things which , unfortunately and confusingly , have the same name.
It's easy peasy! That heap you have - when you 'turn' it, you should be breaking up all the lumps and mixing the stuff together like a Christmas pudding. Do that a few times and you will have lovely compost. Even if you have too much grass, as long as everything is chopped small and well mixed it will be fine. Leaf mould takes two or three years but you can't always see if it's done because the outside leaves don't rot. Pull it out and have a look, it may be ready.
Making compost is worthwhile for lots of reasons and not that difficult if you put in a bit of effort.
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Perhaps you’re right about breaking up the clumps, I try to shake them off the fork but usually takes a boot to get them off...Scissors?
The majority is brown but not the crumbly stuff Mr Don entices me with every season. I suppose I could sieve a few pots out and put the rest back into the heap?
Leaf mould...I have so much from the front garden I doubt the council bin would keep up with it. But this is two seasons of leaves, which I also watered occasionally through last summer:
The “turf pile”:
Last years dalek, today. I might combine this with this year’s heap...but it does have lots of wood Luce working on it so may leave it:
Please remember garden "compost" and potting " compost" are two entirely different things which , unfortunately and confusingly , have the same name.
It's easy peasy! That heap you have - when you 'turn' it, you should be breaking up all the lumps and mixing the stuff together like a Christmas pudding. Do that a few times and you will have lovely compost. Even if you have too much grass, as long as everything is chopped small and well mixed it will be fine. Leaf mould takes two or three years but you can't always see if it's done because the outside leaves don't rot. Pull it out and have a look, it may be ready.
Making compost is worthwhile for lots of reasons and not that difficult if you put in a bit of effort.