compost screening | Crazy About Compost

Compost Contaminants

I just finished filling in the beds with 15 month finished compost, and the contamination wasn't as bad as I thought. Besides the produce labels and the blue strand of plastic from my old tarp, I think the rest of it was all swept up when collecting leaves off the street. I use my finished compost for horticultural purposes, and I double-screen the stuff I use for my cilantro and basil. Plastics are everywhere... it would be crazy to think I could remove 100% of it from my compost, but I'm definitely satisfied with what I have. Composting is always worth it :)

Simple Compost Harvesting for Impatient Gardeners (video)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oCA3UbLadE Here's a good MIgardener video showing how to sift through your compost heap. His pile is clearly past its thermophilic phase, as it's cooled down enough that it's filled with pill bugs and earthworms...these are the critters that turn your material from compost to finished compost, by further breaking it all down. This phase is essentially as long as you want it to be. His trick with using the pitchfork to separate out all the twigs and non-composted material seems to work well for him. I made a compost sieve for screening mine, but a pitchfork would make a great preliminary screening as well. He mentions nutrients leaching out into the soil... a simple method for helping prevent this is to start your compost heap with at least six…