"Janet Tweedy" wrote ...
, Bob Hobden
writes

"Chris" wrote
Covering a compost heap - is it a good idea?
Or is it better to leave the top open?

Our present large heap is not covered and takes an age to rot down but on
our previous allotment we had a "hot box" type heap, insulated on all
sides
and top with thick polystyrene, which used to produce two lots of compost
per year and often the centre was ash showing how hot it had got. No weed
seeds survived that!

Did you fill it all at once Bob or keep adding to it? I find those that I
make quite quickly do better than those that you keep topping up at
intervals.

I filled it almost in one go, possibly over a couple of weeks, making sure
there was plenty of rough stuff on the bottom with plenty of air in it and
that the heap was damp, by pouring a few cans of water over if I was making
it in summer and anything in there was dryish. Plenty of fresh green waste
helps. There was no ventilation as such, only what was trapped in the heap.

The heap was about 2 cu metres big (has to be over 1 cu m.) made of wood
from an old shed and lined with 2 inch thick polystyrene sheets obtained
from a builders merchant. The heap was made within this and covered with
another sheet of polystyrene held down with anything heavy enough to do the
job.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

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