"George.com" wrote in message
...
I gave the back lawn a really close shave yesterday and emptied bags and
bags full of grass onto my compost heap over a layer of cardboard and
paper
which was covering another smaller layer of grass. I covered the
motherload
grass layer with a layer of cardboard. We had quite a heavy rain dump last
night and showers today. I have just gone out to check the compost heap
and
put my hand down into the grass layer. It is heating up very well already.
I
couldn't keep my hand in due to the heat. The compost is certainly going
to
town at present.

At this stage, a huge pile of grass clippings is very satisfying as it goes
sub-critical and heats up. In 4 weeks though, it can go cold and soggy and
then it can go anaerobic. To stop that you have to turn it (move it into a
vacant empty bin beside the one you have or dig it all out and put it back)
to aerate it and/or mix in some drier stuff like shreddings or straw. If it
goes really anaerobic and slimy it is hard to use. If it is just a big
pile on the ground, then it is easy enough to mix around and turn.


rob