Compost catch-up

YOU would think running seven compost bins on the go would mean I have constant supply of the good stuff.

Hilda, Gidget and Ledgergirl help turn over the compost

Well despite filling the mini-food rubbish bin - after the good scraps go to the chooks - and emptying it twice a week into the 'going' bin, my compost seems to be taking way too long to break down.

This is because I have been a bit lazy and not been tuning over the compost enough or adding the right balance of comfrey. In my defecne your honour, I will say work does get in the way of gardening.

Anyway.

So after some newspaper shredding todays plan is to get out the garden fork and release the feather riot and encourage them to get down into the bins and help them them over.

There's bound to be some worm casualties but the three bins which need their help are so full of gorgeous worms I am happy to sacrifices a few dozen to those cheeky chooks to help turn over the organic and carbon matter.

Of course if they drop a bit of fertilizer into the mix, that would be a bonus.

Chooks in Compost

YESTERDAY I emptied out the sixth compost bin and was happily surprised to find the contents were really great about 30cm down into the mix.

Hilda on worm patrol while Gidget and Ledger scratch about

While the worm population was not up to the standard of the other bins, there were enough of those wonderful creatures in the bin to have converted the grass clippings, straw, food scraps not fit for the gals, shredded newspapers and other green waste into glorious compost.

The compost then went int a couple of beds to fill them up and prepare for plantings - the clay base here really eats up good soil so I need all seven bins working hard to keep up. 

Hilda, the chooks evidently agreed as when i turned my back to get the garden fork she dived in head first to enjoy the worms and hhopefully she also added some fertiliser of her own.
After emptying the bin I then moved it under the fig tree and the chooks had a good old scracth in the bin footprint, digging up insects.

Yesterday at the AngleseaTip, sorry, Landfill, I pulled out of the plastic recyling pile a perfeclt good cone green compost bin. No lid that i could find but who cares? I filled it up with grass clippings, staw, weeds, shredded paper and some already created compost with a few worms to get it started and its now under the plum tree.
  
Other booty from the tip included some green wire to grow the sweet peas along and some canarie wire I'll strech across the beds when i plant some seeds.

Now the new compost bin, code named 'fig bin' will get all the coffee groundsw, etc. If only it wouild keep the parrots off the figs, but that's another post.