Hey everybody!

Ive read and been told to add lots of compost to my garden. I have a big pile I started in Fall 2003 and the stuff on the bottom looks pretty good!

Here is my question: It just seems so chunky! Like, if I mix it in, it wont blend in nice, but look like clumps and lumps. There are some small twigs, and lots of roots too!

"Chunks" are not uncommon. Especially if you don't mix thoroughly every time you add stuff or turn the pile regularly, and by regularly I mean at least once a week.

This is especially common in cold composting. If you throw stuff in and don't mix well every time, then stuff will clump together. Sifting is the best way to separate out the uncomposted material. I run my finished compost through a chipper shredder to break up everything into very fine compost. I'm guessing that you don't have one of those.

If you don't, it's ok, to use the stuff if you haven't added anything since 2003. Just bury it at the bottom of your garden soil. If you've been adding stuff continually since 2003, then it depends on what you've been adding. If you've just been adding vegetative matter, then it's fine to use. If you've added any manure recently, you probably want to let the stuff on the top of the pile age a month or two. The stuff on the bottom is probably fine. Don't worry about the clumps.

Good luck.

I bury the clumps and put the looser stuff on top.
You can use a steel rake and rake out the bigger chunks roots & clumps too.

Karen,
Here's a picture of some of mine...
When I first dump it into my sifter...

And then I sift it...
for it to be finer to use in my seed starting mix.

Thanks everyone!

LOL, how about...never! Hey at least I save the stuff. Ive never put in manure, just all the leaves from our trees in Fall, and kitchen scraps. The top is no way near done. But the bottom is great!

Weezie: THANKS for those pictures!!! That is exactly how mine looks, before and after. I built one of those sifters and Im addicted to screening soil and compost! It's just so rewarding.

Too bad I didnt think it looked like rain last night, my wheelbarrow is full of compost soup! Hey, is that how you make compost tea?? If so, Im in luck!

Karen

Heyyyyy, you sound just like me...
I have a tarp over mine, but it has a few holes
in it... and mine's not soup, but it's very close..

Well, it will dry out, once the ole sunshine hits it..
I'll just get the other wheelbarrow out and start sifting for the potting soil mixture I make....

Yes that is compost tea.....as far as I know.