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Tue, Dec 4, 12 at 15:47
| This year I achieved my first large batch of crumbly compost. Over confident I proudly made a new compost pile with horse manure, straw, UCGs, random garden waste small pet bedding. I was delighted with myself when it got hot very quickly. I waited a few days to turn it with smug satisfaction at my beautiful steaming pile. My huge compost ego determined that the pile was a bit too moist. In my wisdom I determined that I should add carbon so I added used pet bedding from a new source. Four days later I eagerly lifted the tarp from my compost so I could bask in my achievement..and realised that I made a rookie mistake...
The bag of pet bedding I received from a new shop was full of bird seed. My 6x4x4 compost heap was covered in sprouts! The pile is good and hot. I've simply put the sprouts in the middle of the pile. I will humbly return to my newbie status. :-) M |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| If I had a dollar for every faux pas I've made I could retire. One of the funniest (slightly similar to yours) was the year we had a large tarp over some primo, nicely screened compost. There was one of those cute chipmunks running into the machine shed picking up all the spilled grain around the combine and running out with his cheeks stuffed so full he could barely walk. We thought it was the cutest thing. Several weeks later we took the tarp off the compost and discovered Chirp (chipmunks name) had decided that under the tarp was a darn nice place to store "his" wheat. D'oh! Lloyd |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr 5 (My Page) on Tue, Dec 4, 12 at 16:41
| I hate when I do that! If you turn the pile once in awhile, new sprouts will be killed, and the turning will allow more seeds to sprout, which you can gleefully murder with the next turning. |
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| Mirendajean, I don't see any 'mistake' at all. Some purist composters eliminate seeds with zeal. Some don't bother. Those seedlings will die if you turn the compost a bit or even just put the tarpaulin back and exclude the light. I compost seeds all the time, including weeds. They either get killed in the composting process or I pull them if they show up in the garden. Don't fret about it. |
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| I don't see a mistake either. You've grown yourself some additional feedstock is all. |
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| I don't see the problem either. Every seed that sprouts in your compost pile is one that won't sprout in your garden beds, so thank you for sprouting. |
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| IALBTC. |
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| I seed what you did there. (sorry, still can't edit) |
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- Posted by mirendajean 8/9 Ireland (My Page) on Wed, Dec 5, 12 at 16:18
| Honestly folks, my compost ego was fully inflated. I was preaching about the soul redeeming goodness of compost to all my friends as if I'd been composting for decades. That is why I find the situation so funny. Alas my wee sprouts brought my big head back to a reasonable size ;-) M |
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