Silly compost question

[MrsKP]

i've now got three compost bins on the go and only one is "nearly cooked".  the other two are this season's stuff.  one is half full of poo (thanks weedbusta  :P) with a load of other stuff chucked on top (figuring that everything rots eventually).

now, two of the "raised bed" frames have been moved to accommodate the new g/h and i've been thinking of making the other two beds twice as high to save me poor old back.  can i just chuck all the half done compost in as a filler and then just top fill with a few inches of virgin (out of bags) compost on the top.

one of the new high beds is going to be for strawbs so will be planting that up later this year.  it won't hurt ........will it ?   :P

all advice welcome.

(the ideas that run through my head at this time of the morning)  :P

[MrsKP]

[Curryandchips]

My strawberry bed which I am planting up in September will have a base of half rotted compost (summer mulch) so I would presume it would not be a problem. The compost will continue to rot down all through the winter, so by the spring should be fairly stable. Be aware of considerable settling though.

[katynewbie]

My only thought is that it will shrink as the half rotted stuff carries on doing its stuff. If you can top it up later it will be ok, cheaper than filling the whole thing with bought in stuff though!

;)

[MrsKP]

thanks both. aye, the thought of another white van load of compost doesn't thrill me with deep joy and the car (as a van) is DEFINITELY out of bounds now the exhaust went today.   :'(

i'm also thinking "leaves", so i could do the strawb bed and fill it to the max hard packed and leave the other one till autumn.  there's also a fair amount of nice compost currently in the greenhouse beds that will come out and be used.  no way i'm using prime growing medium as hardcore !

i'll be sorted in about three years time.  this really is a long term project isn't it ?

;D

[calendula]

if you are not going to plant out for awhile on the patch intended for the 'raw' compost then it will be fine to pile it on now, the worms will do a grand job - in the Autumn I make small trenches on next year's brassica plots and fill them with kitchen waste, then pile the soil back and keep on like this until early spring - it disappears in no time at all, much quicker than a compost bin (avoid potato peelings and jersualem artichokes though as they will sprout again)

[MrsKP]

it disappears in no time at all, much quicker than a compost bin

hmmmmmmm interesting !

::)

;D

[supersprout]

oo, calendula that sounds similar to Ruth Stout's method -
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s-5-21-189,00.html
she recommends putting veggie waste straight on the garden (chopping up if necessary) by-passing the compost bin. I've started to do this with e.g. beetroot leaves and spud tops - will shred harder stuff like sweetcorn - all adds to the mulch, which gets scraped aside to sow and plant, and scooched back again when the plants take off. I like the idea cos it saves the labour of carting compost about to have it fester in situ, plus only a few perennial weeds make it through the mulch so it saves on weeding too :D

[calendula]

never heard of her  :( so I'll check the site out thanks

I don't bother chopping anything up, in goes orange halves, avocados, huge brassicas stalks, lemons etc and it just disappears and I do this for almost 6 months of the year as soon as a plot becomes empty and ready to work - this gives my compost bins a chance to rot down then I fill them up for the other 6 months - as you say it saves enormously on the heavy work of having to spread manure or compost - many of my beds are about 4 or 5 foot wide and the bucket full of kitchen waste I use will do for about 2 or 3 small trenches, usually about a spade's depth

I save banana skins for the roses at home, just peel, eat and drop  ;D