Mixing compost

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by Sargan, May 18, 2015.

  1. Sargan

    Sargan Gardener

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    Hi …. My local council offer free ‘compost’ ……. It’s not quite the soft brown sweet smelling stuff you buy in a garden centre ………. It’s black, can contain ash (sometimes still hot)

    It contains a lot of rotted stem & stalk that can be thickness of a finger and a couple of inches long.

    I have taken about 3 tonne in past 3 years mix it in with rotted cattle manure, and seaweed form local beach, and it has transformed my clay rich heavy solid into a very good growing medium – and its free, as much as you want.
    As I rotate each growing area to potatoes have prepared the bed with this dual mix.

    My question is has anybody come up with a decent way to mix composts, I have just filled up 4 of the large 3330L bins with my own garden waste and this council compost …. Hoping the heat & mass of the imported compost will accelerate breakdown of my garden waste.

    What I would like to do is then find some way to chop/shred/mix it ……… just to get it to reasonable size before incorporating into the garden.

    When it is in the ground I have in the past run a Mantis back and for and that does work …….. just wondered if anybody has found a way before I put it in the ground.

    I did wonder about just emptying bins and trying tiller on those, but expect it would be thrown everywhere.

    I do have a branch shredder … but assume this would clog if I tried putting compost in.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2015
  2. Steve R

    Steve R Soil Furtler

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    A wheelbarrow and either a homemade sieve or plastic mushroom crate or bread tray..[​IMG]
    Sieve the compost into the wheelbarrow, whatever stays in the tray goes back into the compost heap to break down further. Personally, I do not mind big bits if I am mixing compost directly into the soil. I sieve all my compost for seed sowing and potting on mixes, the big bits then go straight onto the garden.

    At my allotment compost heap I use a spade to chop up big bits, but other than that I let nature do what it does best, and leave it to her.

    Steve...:)
     
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