View Single Post
  #17   Report Post  
Old 08-11-2007, 03:15 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Deubug Deubug is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Nov 2007
Posts: 1
Default Accelerate the compost

On 6 Nov, 18:59, "CWatters" wrote:
mostly grass clipings from a paddock. Seems reluctant to decompose despite being watered. The inside is still dry and dusty and look more like straw.

Anything I can do to speed up the process? I've been adding leaves now that we have loads falling.


You may have too much nitrogenous material in the heap, adding the
leaves will help but they are notoriously slow to break down. A
better idea would be to mix the grass cuttings with strawy material or
shredded paper in the ratio of 1 volume of grass cuttings to 1 volume
of shredded paper. Also the more you mix the material the faster it
will compost - the best way I've found is to fork one pile into an
adjacent pile at up to weekly intervals. It should be damp but not wet
- about as wet as a damp sponge and it should be the same consistency
all the way through - if you have wet or dry areas it needs more
mixing.

The best thing to do with the leaves is stuff them in a bin liner, put
a garden fork through it 2 - 3 times, leave it out of the way
somewhere and forget about it for a couple of years.

Hope this helps