A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Organically Speaking... hurry up compost

I have some compost that I really want to spread by next weekend! It smells good, but not quiet like really rich soil. You can still see some partial leaves but nothing else besides a few egg shells. What is the best way to 'hurry it up'? I read something a while back about putting it in a plastic garbage sac out in the sun....but wouldn't that grow some nasty fungis?

I don't know.My compost pile is taking its time;I added a lot of lawn clippings and kitchen scraps two weeks ago.

I've heard that adding the 'green' lawn clipping will surely speed things up. all of my lawn clipping now are just weeds...no grass. (don't want to put all that seed in there)

The best way to "speed things up" is by adding a yeast. Stale beer or make up an active packet of yeast will get the little microbes going well. The other thing that helps is to turn it at least every ten days. Also keeping it as moist as a wrung out sponge helps. But even with that to get the whole pile processed it still seems to take most of the growing seasons for me. Although I've heard of products that you can buy that are really suppose to speed it up. And there are those heated compost bins that are suppose to turn it out in quick time. I don't have either one so I can't tell you how well they work.

Thanks, I have a yeast pack and maybe a stray half empty beer laying around from the weekend? I'll try those!