I have a new allotment as of this morning so be prepared for all the newbie questions! ;D
My new plot has a fairly sturdy wooden compost bin at the bottom. I had a peek in and the partially rotted compost in it is covered in white fluffy mould and a multitude of spiders webs. Should I shovel it all out and dump it or is it still useful in this state?
I would give it a stir around with a fork and start adding fresh material to get it going again. It may be a little dry to so add a bit of moisture wont go a miss.
And congrats on the new plot!
HTH
Jerry
That is great, thanks for the advice. I will give it a good stir and hope that not too many spiders come running out!! (Don't like them at all)
I have one quite dry compost heap which the slow worms overwinter in. If yours is like this then you may want to throw new compost on the top rather than dig too deep. When the weather warms up a bit you can always fork over and damp down the pile then.
Even if you are not too bothered about disturbing any possible hibernating wildlife, its still a good idea to try and be careful where you stick the fork because you may have hedgehogs or frogs snoozing in your compost at this time of year (you feel much better if you don't learn that one by mistake believe me!)
You can just fill the bin up with fresh stuff; it'll rot. Damping it down with pee helps speed the process.
Best done in a jar or such like tho'. Straddling a yard wide compost bin is not a good idea.
I'm 6'2" and the first stream is great .
BUT (no I don't wanna go there).
lol thanks everyone for your input. I will be careful of wildlife snoozing in the compost and resist the temptation to shock my plot neighbours by straddling the compost bin to wee in it!!
I use a bucket, and store the stuff in a barrel until needed. By the time the plants start to need it, I have gallons.
Maybe that could be a new categorie in this years allotment comps!! Lance