Ivan McDonagh wrote:


Am I safe in thinking that a large pile of compostable material will, in
the course of say 3-4 months, just decompose, be eaten by worms and fungi
and turn in to reasonably good soil ? The alternative to just leaving it
is to regularly turn the whole lot but that's rather a problem given the
amount of material I have - about 140 square metres.

Thanks for the assistance.

Ivan.

You are somewhat short on details but let me take a stab at this anyways.

First, the presence of worm activity indicates that the pile has stopped
working intensely. In the interest of self-preservation, worms will not
enter a hot pile. Nor will any exit it. Once in, always in. There also
won't be much apparent fungal activity. There IS activity, but it's
concentrated on the inside where the moisture remains somewhat constant.

At this point, give consideration to scraping the outside, barely beginning
to decompose, parts off and begin a new pile with them. Allow the inside,
which should differ dramatically in appearance from the outside, to cool
off and let the earthworms frolic away, helped by watering as needed to
keep the pile somewhat moist. The pile will also be colonized by spiders,
millipedes, sow bugs and possibly ground-dwelling bees (the big fat
bumble-bees). Unfortunately, slugs and earwigs will also find the pile to
their liking.

I don't know if 3-4 months is a reasonable time frame, but I would tend to
believe that this time next year will find you in possession of some really
nice looking compost.


You might also consider tilling / plowing / digging it in in its unfinished
state and letting it finish working in the ground. That solves the time
problem. Within a week or two the soil will be plantable again and all is
golden.

Bill
If you have really hot temps and keep the pile consistently moist, you will
probably find that you have a very useable product as early as this fall.
But consider letting it freeze anyways (if your temps permit) for spring
2005 application.