Composting is not an imitation of nature. Cold composting is. Hot composting is a far different process and is not normally a naturally occurring thing.
Compost is made in two ways here at Bealtaine Cottage.
The first is what most people would imagine is the only way…certainly the one favoured in all the gardening books…where everything is kept neat and stacked and covered and turned and generally fiddled about with!
Yes, I have one of those heaps on the go and yes it works great…if one is in a hurry for the finished product; rich, crumbly, dark and nutritious food for plants!
However, I have just begun to uncover my lazy compost…where I have done zilch in terms of work, throwing all the garden wastes into an ever-expanding mound of general untidiness!
Pushing back the top layer of waste and flinging it back into the mound on the far-side, I uncovered this superb compost yesterday!
Vegetable beds are being topped up as wheel-barrow after wheel-barrow is pushed around the gardens.
Looking at the amount of…
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Yep, recommend the lazy way too! For easy sieving -if that’s not too much work- use an old piece of chicken wire (gaps about inch and a half) big enough to cover wheelbarrow and a bit more. Attach 4 pieces of 2 by 2, or similar to make a frame. Place on wheelbarrow, pile up with some compost and sieve away! Wheel the super sieved compost to the required place and chuck the bigger stuff back on a heap to further rot. Someone showed me this trick the other day!
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Brilliant advice! Thanks Anne!
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We do the lazy compost method, always have. Heap it up, cover it, leave it, start another.
We never ‘turn’ a heap, life’s too short and nature is happy to help out.
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It’s Nature’s way for sure!
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Fabulous!!
Now that you mention it, the best compost I’ve dug up since starting it years ago was in a similar pile. Thanks for posting…thinking of revisiting my composting methods.
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Hi, I am from Florida, in USA. I found your videos on you-tube this past summer and enjoy them so much. Bealtaine Cottage is a beautiful place. I look each day to see if you have posted more videos. Thanks for all.
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Blessings to you X
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