On 7/14/2008 4:48 PM, Kevin Cherkauer wrote:
Here, here! I second the motion of avoiding exhausting work! My compost
usually has plenty of stuff in it that isn't "done" yet when I dig it into
the veggie garden at the end of winter. The hauling and digging are
exhausting enough without adding sifting of the compost to my list of
back-breaking chores for tilling day. I pull out any unrotted item larger
than a bowling pin, but the rest is on its own. The veggies have been
perfectly happy with my half-assed job, so as long as they ain't
complainin', I ain't siftin'! :-)

Utopia in Decay
http://home.comcast.net/~kevin.cherkauer/site

Kevin Cherkauer


"Jay Chan" wrote in message
...

I only sift the composts if I need some of them for top dressing some
areas in my lawn (like some bare spots that I need to re-seed). I
don't sift if I use the finished compost in vegetable garden or flower
garden. Sifting cmoposts is a very exhausting work that I want to
avoid doing.



I sift mine because much of it is used in potting mixes. For my flower
and shrub beds, I usually just pile leaves as a mulch, which eventually
composts to leafmold without any attention from me.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/