I love making compost and every year for the last 20 years I have made varying amounts of lush compost which I use in the greenhouse to feed tomatoes and peppers etc. But this year as I went to empty my bins I dreaded it. The compost was wet and slimey and smelly.
It was hard work emptying them and as it was, totally useless. Obviously I had been turning the compost, just a couple of times during the summer and autumn so I knew it wasn't going to be great.
There was a lot of chicken manure in but also all the kitchen scraps except the ones the pigs ate. There was also some lawn clippings but not many as the chickens and cows usually get these (grass clippings can be death to good compost) so I was mystified as to why, this year, I had failed so badly!
It became obvious when I lifted the last of the compost. It was totally sodden underneath and the wet had crept up the heap. Compost needs to be moist but not wet and this was saturated. The wettest summer I have ever known has resulted in the mush.
I barrowed the compost up to the "resting" vegetable bed and spread it out. I re-located the bins on to drier land and have started again! I'll let you know next spring how I get on!
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