If you are  in a hurry for compost, make sure you turn the pile often to introduce air into the pile. If you aren't in a hurry, just let MOTHER NATURE take care of the pile!

I turn my pile almost every day, And I add stuff to it about once a week. I'm just compulsive like that I guess!!

I also take it's temp. about once every 2 weeks!!! this tells me if it is working or not.

 

I have a question about materials you can use in your compost. I'm cleaning out my gutters, and the sludgy, black, gook looks perfect for my compost bin - it's full of soil and decomposed leaves etc....AND bits of grit from my asbestos roof tiles. I want to use my compost for my vegetable garden next spring...I just don't know if I should use this stuff or not. There's not a LOT of grit, but I just don't know what to do with it. Is the gritty part asbestos, or is the actual flat tile part the asbestos containing part? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 Diane

I really don't have an answer for you, but I wouldn't use it in my pile, I'm very cautious about what I put into my pile. 

Thanks, Candy I realized after I posted that the tiles aren't made of asbestos, but asphalt. I don't know where my head was. Anyway, I did some research and found out that the grit is actually "mineral granules", so I thought that doesn't sound so bad. So I checked into what "minerals" were used and found they can be limestone, slate, FLY ASH, or traprock. Well, three out of four aren't harmful, but FLY ASH is used in landfills, it's the residue from burning coal. According to Wikipedia,

"Fly ash, like soil, contains trace concentrations of many heavy metals that are known to be detrimental to health in sufficient quantities. These include nickel, vanadium, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, barium, chromium, copper, molybdenum, zinc, lead, selenium, uranium, thorium, and radium. Though these elements are found in extremely low concentrations in fly ash, their mere presence has prompted some to sound alarm."

 Well, I'm not taking any chances, so it's not going in my pile. I'm just including all this info in case anyone else decides to look into it as well.

 Diane

Wow thanks for doing that bit of research. I just thought that it was sand mixed into the asphalt, but I guess you learn something new everyday.

Yeah, I wouldn't put any of that near my vegetables!

My rule of thumb is "When in doubt, leave it out". I thank you also for doing that research!!

The transfer station in my town has a giant pile of what they call compost. It LOOKS really good,  but man I am leary. I mean the stuff that comes in close proximity of this pile is scary. Think I should just stop looking at it and drooling?

I think it would be safe in a flower bed, not sure about in a veggie garden, you really don't know what is in there.

I have one pile composting nicely, and a new one started, that I am turning every couple of days. But neither one seems to get very warm, and I don't know why. We've had some rain, but maybe it isn't wet enough? 

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Anne, A YardLover from Virginia
Read my Blog

Maybe if you add some grass clippings that would help.

Cover the pile with black plastic. Black will absorb the sun and heat things up. I did this for the first time this year. The compost was ready to use much earlier than in previous years. Billy