[pawlitan]

Hello all! We've just got our first plot (quicker than expected!) and are total newbies. We've inherited this compost heap (see attached!) which has been left uncovered for goodness knows how long and looks a little bit sorry. We don't know what to do with it, someone on a neighbouring plot advised us to burn it, which seems like a bit of a waste.

Is the good stuff rescuable? Thanks 

[New shoot]

Hi pawlitun and welcome to the forum    Congratulations on your new plot as well. 

There is some rough stuff there which is probably best burnt, but if you dismantle the heap, you may find that there is some good stuff inside.

Just be wary if you find lots of live looking roots.  These could be from perennial weeds and they will regrow in the heap. 

Maybe post some more pictures once you have dug into the heap and we can see what's inside.  We have lots of composting gurus on here and I'm sure they will have plenty of advice 

[BabbyAnn]

I'd go along with New Shoot - the worst bit about finding the roots in the compost is that you might have been more aware of them in say mid-summer when plants like bindweed will be above ground by then but not so obvious at the moment.  The compost pile could be full of weed seeds too (if you don't know the history of the last tenant) but personally, I'd look at it carefully ... if it looked suspicious - I think you'd know - then maybe not, but if it is crumbly brown compost then I think I would happily use it.

[Aunt Sally]

Yes I'm sure there's some good stuff in there.  Just sort through as you dig it out and discard anything that looks like roots or is alive (except worms )

[pawlitan]

Ah, thank you all  we'll probably try and tackle it this weekend (I've also heard some horror stories of rats living in compost heaps that haven't been turned in a while so here's hoping there's none of that to deal with!  )

We do have a couple of lovely new compost bins so if anything appears salvageable is it advisable to transfer it into one of these or leave it in its current format (except covered)?

Thanks again     

[New shoot]

If you find some good looking well rotted compost in there, you can just restack it and cover it, ready to dig in as and when you need it.  If there are chunks of unrotted stuff, you can mix these with new green stuff and put it into your bins. 

There are lots of methods of composting, but the basic formula is a mix of everything and not too much of anything.  All woody stuff and it will take an age to rot.  Too much wet stuff like grass clippings and it will become a smelly mess.  Mix it all up and chuck it in and lovely stuff comes out 

[3759allen]

i would just burn it and start a fresh. i'm assuming you don't know what's gone in it, so you may be spreading a weed problem around your new plot.

[Trikidiki]

I inherited a compost heap of lovely crumbly brown stuff unfortunately the previous owner use to grow lots of brassicas and didn't weed between them, hence at the end of the season there were tons of annual weeds with mature seed heads that got dumped on the heap. When I spread it around it all germinated and I had a meadow of annual weeds.

Looking at your heap, it wasn't made by someone who knew how to make good compost. I'd follow the previous advice re anything alive in there, get rid of anything woody, once burnt the ash will add some nutrients to the soil.

If you are growing beans I would make a bean trench and fill it with all the 'brown crumbly compost' from your heap. Give it a good fluff up so any weed seeds are exposed to light and air then cover the trench with a good eight inches of soil. Hopefully a lot of the dormant weed seeds will then germinate underground and die before they reach the surface. Or use some to plant potatoes in, as the earthing up through the season will disturb and kill a lot of weed seedlings.

Then start making your own compost from scratch following the advice you will find on this website. At least you will know what is in it and where you can safely use it.

[steved]

If you do decide to put a match to it, make sure you dismantle it first to check for hedgehogs and frogs

[pawlitan]

Uhoh Trikidiki, that sounds like a nightmare 
Thanks all - we'll attack it this weekend and see what it yields, updates to follow! (and 3759allen - our new plot currently IS a weed problem! It seems to have been vacant for quite some time)

[snowdrops]

If you are allowed fires & decide to burn the burn able bits you could then sterilise any compost you find in the heap to kill the seeds by mounding the compost or some soil over the heaped embers. That's what did each time I had a fire, I found the worst looking soil riddled with roots & seeds & im sure it helped to lesson the weeds to a point.

[Trikidiki]

Or while it's burning suspend a can of water over the fire with a vent pipe running into the pile of compost and steam sterilise it. The basis of one of my future projects.

Or maybe just boil some water and have a brew.

[Headgardener22]

If you do decide to put a match to it, make sure you dismantle it first to check for hedgehogs and frogs

Also make sure you are allowed fires, on our allotment we're only allowed fires on one specific day in the year.

Further, if your allotment already has a weed problem, then spreading the existing compost onto the beds is unlikely to make it worse.

[ptarmigan]

I think you need to balance up whether your need for compost outweighs the problems of adding more annual weed seeds.  If you pick out any obvious nasties then I think spreading some compost around where you've dug and then hoeing off any seedlings is probably not a bad idea. And then using the rest to start a new compost heap.

You are going to get weeds anyway - so as long as you keep on top of them, hoeing off a few more probably won't make a whole heap of difference.

[wapello]

Get some plastic sheet turn it over onto the sheet just to make sure there is no wildlfe nesting in the heap, before you set light to it,,,,,,,,