Compost Update

... just because that's what people want to know, I'm sure!  I think I understated the compost situation before when I wrote the last post.  The fact is, having been added to for nearly a year, the marvelous layers had become incredibly dense and (if you can believe it) not so yummy smelling.  Most everything was still degraded, but it was clear that  there wasn't enough A. air or B. dry material to really make it work completely.  Lesson learned.

What I did on Sunday was not glamorous, and I can't imagine why neither Craig nor the boys wanted to give me a hug after!  First, I dug out all the top stuff that wasn't degraded enough to use.  That made up a lovely pile of interesting aromas.  Then, I proceeded to hack away at the rest with a shovel to dislodge everything.  There were still worms and the like, so they were clearly doing the job correctly.  I was the one who'd been a bit lazy.  Or overly aggressive in the "turning".  For the compost bins I have (Green Johanna), this means poking everything with a little stick with a propeller of sorts at the end to stir things up.  What I did - most likely when I needed a break from children - was stir the top, but pack the rest like mad.  Not so effective it turns out.

In any case, the compost that was there is now in my garden, so we'll see how the veggies do this year.  (Regardless of the weather, I'll likely blame the success or failure of the garden on the quality of compost.)  It still looked good, though a little wet, once I got it all out.  I dumped the rest of the halfway heap back into the bin.  I'm hoping maybe it'll do the rest of the job before June or at least by Fall so I can use it for Winter protection.

I did start the other bin (yes, I bought two for some reason), so hopefully I'll apply my lessons and do better the second time around.  The art of doing things poorly, right?