Lois, I throw it out into a wheel barrow because I can take the slats out of the front to do that. You do what you can do and if that is getting a fork in and loosening it up from the top then it is better than nothing. If it has been there a year, try to remove about a foot from the top and check the stuff underneath, you could have good friable compost once you get into it, if so use it, or put some into a bag or bucket then throw the stuff from the top back. Sprinkle the compost with water, a can with a rose on will do nicely but do not soak it ever. We all had to learn Lois and still we make mistakes now and then, I have plants that have been on a tour of my garden before they settled and gave results.
Help? I have a Green Joanna, I garden in Central Scotland at the west end of a huge Loch;composting is not succeeding - it’s too wet of the jacket and possible in a windy spot that keeps it cool. Any suggestions welcome? Tansey29
It should be fine in the shade and the cool. It just takes a while. Make sure your green and browns are in balance - it needs both to rot down properly. I'm not sure what " too wet of the jacket" means. If your compost is too wet inside, add more dry brown stuff like dry grass, cut up straw, cardboard, newspaper, egg boxes etc. If it's too dry adding green stuff like kitchen waste and grass clippings will help, also add water. To help it along, add some manure, old compost and/or good garden soil (not clay) to add fungi and microbes. Don't put in large leaves without shredding/cutting up as they take ages. Give it a good mix once a month with a big stick or a spade and be patient. It might take a year or more to break down into soil, but it will in the end. I use insulation on my boxes to help things along. More details here.
I've got one of those widgets with fold up wings for mixing compost, about£13 and I consider it money well spent. Using it is quite a good workout! An occasional dose of freshly voided urine helps compost along, but obviously not if it's already too wet.
I put weeds into the compost bin providing they don't have flowers or seed heads on them. I don't normally have a problem. My problem currently - as with every spring - is that I have many, many tiny tomato plants growing all through my beds. That's because I put the cores and/or tops into my kitchen composter and obviously some seeds stick to them. Conversely, I bought 2 packets of expensive (£2.00) tomato seeds this year - just 5 seeds to each packet - and one solitary little shoot has shown itself. I do hope they will all finally burst through, otherwise I am going to have to buy some plants!
I had that for a few years, but the seeds have stopped coming up now. I find it quite miraculous to have a garden covered in tom plants. Easy to uproot.
I dont compost perennial weeds, dont want them back in he beds, so are you folks alking abou annual weeds, here, I also dont compost anything from potatos or tomatos after readin it encourages the spread of blight, have never had blight on either of these, but a friend who lives aout 20 miles away, has had to stop growing both because of blight, so figure not worth chancing it.
I had to put a roof on my compost, otherwise it gets so wet it becomes anoxic and doesn't rot at all, not even after 3 years. I got it up to temp last year and to be honest it still isn't rotted.
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Lois, I throw it out into a wheel barrow because I can take the slats out of the front to do that.
You do what you can do and if that is getting a fork in and loosening it up from the top then it is better than nothing.
If it has been there a year, try to remove about a foot from the top and check the stuff underneath, you could have good friable compost once you get into it, if so use it, or put some into a bag or bucket then throw the stuff from the top back.
Sprinkle the compost with water, a can with a rose on will do nicely but do not soak it ever.
We all had to learn Lois and still we make mistakes now and then, I have plants that have been on a tour of my garden before they settled and gave results.
Frank.
Thanks Frank.