New Dawn

Composting Problem

Thank you all for your comments. My heap is like Berghill's or even bigger! I inherited a wonderful three quarter acre garden with long, wide, packed mixed borders & sweeping lawn as well as a smaller wooded area. So I generate a huge amount of stuff! Luckily, I can have fires for all the woody material. I put invasive stuff in the wheelie bin, but that still leaves an awful lot to compost! I find it hard to believe the dry, bright orange, fibrous matted stuff has goodness in it, and will break down? It does seem though from all your responses that I'll need to add 'turning compost' to my long To Do list. Sttill working in my earth gym keeps me fit!

Composting Problem

Thanks, sinderfella, in fact I don't turn it at all, as it's a very big heap and so would be very hard work. Perhaps I should consider turning it, otherwise all my hard work creating it, goes to waste. Leaving fallen leaves for a year in black bin liners has, by comparison, produced some wonderful soil for very little effort!

Composting Problem

3 years ago, I inherited a large, mature garden. I've made my own compost heaps using chicken wire. I make sure there is a good mix of materials, not too much of anything and nothing on the 'forbidden' list. I start the heap in Spring, filling it till autumn, then cover & leave for a year. I'm finding when I come to use it  there is some wonderful brown, crumbly soil, but a lot of it has turned into a dry, orange, fibrous mass which I doubt has any nutritional value at all. So I end up discarding much of my compost. Is anyone able to tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Composting Problem