by Nathaniel Smith, June 8, 2020

I have never figured out how to build a compost heap that would heat up enough to kill weed seeds. The compost manuals make it sound simple, but it isn’t! (See lots of really good composting advice from the Chester County Solid Waste Authority, though.)

For me, patience is the key. I just make a big pile and turn it over every couple of months (more often is better, of course!). If it’s not turned over, pockets of wet leaves or dry branch parts can form and sit for years.

My heap is long, narrow, and tall. I leave a blank spot from which I remove usable compost, and then I move the next 4-foot segment into the gap….

Read more here.

Of several photos in the original linked  post, here is one showing compostable packaging materials, used by Bob’s Red Mill, well on its way to returning to nature on a bed of fresh cuttings in my compost heap.

Here’s an add-on as of July 17: one of the pleasures of gardening and composting, for me, is the surprise factor, the unpredictability, as when sparse echinacea suddenly fills in an entire bed, or a persimmon tree that has produced 3 fruits in 3 years seems on its way to dozens. My experience with the patient compost method was that the pile only really decomposed into usable product in the lowest 6 to 12 inches. Today, while moving one section onto another to get to the bottom of it, I came across a good layer of compost perfect for loosening up the soil where I was about to plant potatoes. It was like doing archeology, finding a productive layer in the middle of the accumulation. It even had earthworms (look closely) in it! It was above a matted layer of leaves, which may have stopped moisture from permeating and made a wet area that decomposed faster than the rest.

Read more of the original post here.