5 Easy Steps To Turn Compost to Get a Better Rich Black Gold
A compost bin is a great way to recycle your used plants and leaves. Taking the time to turn compost will help the process along to give you better results.
Compost is one of the most beneficial additions you can add to your soil. It provides organic matter, worms and helps to retain moisture. The benefits outweigh the effort required to make good compost.
While piling up materials in a compost pile is relatively easy and not much hard work, your compost will work better and decompose faster if you turn it once in a while. It helps to have a multi-bin setup, but you can also turn compost directly into your garden beds as an option if you only have one bin.
1. When to turn your compost
Like many gardening tasks you should turn compost on a pre-defined regular basis. If you need your pile to heat up to kill weed seeds, this should be a weekly turning but most of us don’t have that time. Monthly would be just as good but that’s something I haven’t been able to do myself on a regular basis.
Or you can turn based on some trigger, which is usually what I do. I turn my compost based on one or more of the following:
- One of the bins containing compost-in-progress is full and I need more space for new gardening debris
- One of the bins has finished compost and needs to be emptied to make room for what is produced in one of the other bins
- I need compost for the garden and hope that 2. applies (or at least the compost at the very bottom of the bin is ready to use)
As you can see these reasons are interconnected.
And occasionally the reason will also be seasonal:
- you’ll need compost to amend your garden beds when changing crops (winter to spring or summer to fall)
- you’ll generate lots of compost materials in the fall and need the empty bins
You may want to avoid doing this in the heat of summer as this is hot, sweaty work so a cool spring or fall day is more comfortable.
2. Prepare the tools you need to turn your compost
You will need some tools to effectively to turn compost.
My tool recommendations (with links) for moving compost around are:
Shovel or spade
Good for shovelling finished compost and so many more tasks in the garden. Pick up a good, strong quality one such as:
Garden Fork
More useful for in-progress compost when it is still chunky with long bits of partially decomposed plant material. This is a good sturdy one that has a D-handle for easier use:
Gloves
Keep your hands clean and protect them from any prickly plant materials. These gloves are great as they protect your arms as well.