compost harvest

It's time to "harvest" the compost. We started composting last summer with very little knowledge of how. We composted leaves, grass and plant clippings, green waste from the kitchen, added coffee grounds, water, and air. It all turned into black gold.

Digging out the bottom of the compost. It's a little lumpy and needs to be sifted out.

Use a screen to sift out large materials. I made this screen from an an old chair frame. I stapled (with a staple gun) a wire frame to the wood. The holes in the screen are small enough to sort out the large material that has not composted but large enough to let the compost through. Chicken wire might be to large, but in a pinch it would work. I used wire mesh that is a 1/4 of an inch wide. Then formed the wire to the frame and stapled away. I didn't care how it looked but how it functioned.

Place screen over a large pale or bucket and screen the compost.

Sift compost

In the end you will have compost for potting soil or mulch.

Add compost to potting soil.