Turning Compost

One of the things we do during the winter to make our garden better is to keep a compost pile. My husband is the one who really gets credit for this. I am just along for the ride, but I am learning a lot. I have posted about compost before, so I won’t go into detail about how we get the compost pile going. Just read the other post if you want to know more.

This month we have turned it a couple of times, and I got some really great pictures that I wanted to show you.

compost pile under snow — There is the pile under the snow. The fact that there is snow on this pile shows that it isn’t very warm yet.

turning the compost pile — As he started to turn it over this is what it looked like.

Inside a compost pile — As you can see, there is still plenty that hasn’t broken down yet.

After we finished turning it. (Yes, I actually took a turn pitching compost. I have to use my muscles once in a while) We added a couple buckets full of warm water to get it some much needed moisture. The next week we got a lot of rain and snow which also really helped out.

When we got out the next week to turn the pile again this is what we found.

a healthy compost pile — This is what it’s supposed to look like when you start digging into it.

Steam coming out of a compost pile. — See that steam? That means the microbes are happy.

Thermometer in compost — That is a thermometer stuck into the pile. We were curious to see just how hot it was.

We were curious to see just how hot it was inside the pile so we stuck a thermometer in there. It read 120 degrees Fahrenheit! This was on a day when it was between 50-60 degrees outside. See how all that stuff is turning back into dirt? That is what we are going for.

Me helping to turn compost — Tyler was kind enough to create photographic evidence of the fact that I actually helped. And again, look at that steam!

So we basically just take a scoop from the pile and start a new one. We try to mix up and break down any clumps that we find. It doesn’t look like we will need to add water this time. We will just come out in a few days… or so… and turn it again. As you can see from the snow, we are still a ways away from being able to plant, so we have some time. Hopefully by the time we are ready to plant all that goodness will be ready to go into the dirt.

We have a pretty big garden so we have a pretty big compost pile. If you want to try your own compost pile next year, don’t think that it has to be this big. Every little bit helps.

What do you think? Have you tried composting? How did it go? What worked, what didn’t? Please leave a comment.