kevin.. martha.. kevin.. martha..

crimminey.. man up.. toss it around the yard.. in your thong.. and refill the freaking thing..

crimminey.. you are over-thinking all this.. and being guilted by a multi-billionare felon .. jezus man... i will yell.. SHE PAID PEOPLE TO DO IT FOR HER..

FOCUS!!!

i will sum it up for you.. it is ready to spread.. when you have time to spread it ... no sooner.. no later ...

ken

I'm a great Martha fan, but I don't do ANYTHING the way she does!!!(Staff is too small lol) I pretend my compost is really mulch, hence all the chunks in it. I used to screen it, and have a nice screen my DH built, but life is too short! I just toss the big pieces over into the other bin, and spread away.
I once spent some time reading on the compost forum. There are some really interesting characters there - they pee in their compost (or worse), and compost everything you can think of and things you can't. I was too scared to go back there.
Jan

Ken has it in one easy to comprehend sentence. ' it is ready to spread.. when you have time to spread it'.

You don't need to think any further.

I don't even sift it, I just dig underneath the piles for the good stuff and fill a bucket or wheel barrow and "spread it when I have time to spread it". usually when I want to amend soil in an existing bed or border, or when I create a new one.

Now, now, Ken, relax, lol. I don't think Kevin is losing sleep over his compost; he's just posting a conversational, pleasant thread to discuss compost.

I usually use the bulk of my compost in my new lasagna beds, or to extend existing beds lasagna-style, so it's okay if it's a bit chunky, which it usually is. I figure like Kevin that it will continue to decompose in the garden.

I've got a big screen which I borrowed five years ago from a neighbor, lol, which I use occasionally to screen, but usually the compost just goes in as it is.

Although, I have to say I was very impressed with myself and my last batch of compost when I opened the bin yesterday. A few corn cobs, some thicker pieces of plant stems, and a few uncomposted leaves, but for the most part it was pretty nice stuff! I almost hated to use it in the lasagna pile.

Dee

just DONT post a pic of a thong wearing compost spreading he man ..

God help us all .. lol

ken

Jan - Too funny! I guess I am a bit obsessed with compost, but not to the extent some of those folks are. God love 'em anyway.

Thank you Dee. No I'm not losing sleep over it, but I was kind of wondering if anyone out here had some elaborate compost set-up like Ms Stewart. One would think with all the wonderful gardeners and gardens out here, someone would have taken the process to the ultimate state of perfection. Maybe on the Compost Forum?

I finished one bin yesterday. I wasn't planning on it, but I do get obsessed with completely tasks once I start them. It's one of my major faults. The plan for the next bin is to fill a few buckets each day until it's done. Unfortunately today is one of those perfectly cool, non humid days - perfect for such work. The heat creeps back starting tomorrow, so it would be nice to have it done within the next few days.

I did make a major discovery. Orchids take a long time to rot. I tossed a few over a year ago and I'm still coming across their partially decomposed corpses. Back into the bin they go.

Ken - What can I say? So I won't.

Kevin

Jan - LOL - staff too small! No doubt!

I don't screen, measure, or take the temperature of compost. Once in a while I might turn it a bit. The bulk of it gets spread around in the spring. If I get around to it in the fall, everything gets dumped on the veggie patch so we can start again with the leaves. If not, just pile more on to use the next spring. I don't pay too much attention to how decomposed it is, throw any really big chunks back to cook more.

I think the key to having a fancy compost pile is to have a nice set-up to start with.... and a good sized staff doesn't hurt either.

Throw yard waste in a pile and come back in a year or two. Those are the basics, you can take it as far as you want. Right now I'm at the pile it up and do nothing stage, once I get things a little more organized I'd like to have a neater work area with three or so bins, a little hedging or vines around it, maybe some scrap paving and bricks down on the ground.... I will never have a screen though. My staff of one will never have enough ambition to screen the compost before using it. If I'm lucky he will turn the pile once a year to seperate it into "good enough to use" and "just as fresh as the day I threw it in". My staff isn't even ambitous enough to dig in the compost when planting, usually it gets used as a mulch around special plants.

You really can't get good help these days. Right now he is refusing to work out in the rain. Instead he's sitting on the computer posting to a gardening forum and thinking that an ice cream bar sounds like a good idea.

Ken - What can I say? So I won't.

==>> very wise decision ...

ken

Kato, your staff sounds just like mine. My staff is sitting at the computer slacking off also - and I was just berating her because she didn't stop on the way home from work and pick up some ice cream....

Yes, good help is hard to find...

Dee

mine is still sitting there and as far as good help DH calls flowers weeds and I can't even hire younger kids ....most help their own dads on the farm but;;;;;oh! well i still am not givinng up on my flower beds I will do what I can at 81

Kato - the compost folks would toss the stick from your ice cream bar into the compost pile, and the wrapper.
So - no guilt for eating one eh?
Jan

Tried the turning, watering, monitoring temp routine. No time for that and no energy! I just throw it in the bins and when I think it's done, it's done. Plain and simple. I don't screen, water, turn, or monitor. It's all good. It's all organic.