compost sifter | 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 :)

First compost of the season!

This bottomless pit of a compost bin ate everything I threw at it for over a year. I decided to give it extra time to sit, and it was worth it- 15 months later and I have some really nice stuff. A cubic yard of compost is a lot to work with- I hope I can use it all quickly so I can get back to using it again. Working with a cubic yard means higher temperatures and higher tolerances- you can get extra lazy with it and still get great results. I'm about to empty a trash can's worth of compost that sat over the winter- I have a feeling it's not going to look nearly as good and I'll end up throwing half of it (the unfinished stuff)…

Sifting Compost – Using our simple sifter on our compost for the first time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xInrPoutsI4 This video shows a great example of a simple but effective compost sifter- buckets, some wood and a screen. It's also a great example of someone that's just stoked about their finished compost. Me too!