Hey, Jamie and Karen! I'm a lazy gardener, too, so I'll probably end up chunking the stuff right on in the bed and running it over with the Mantis later. But my intentions are to sift it to at least less than brick size, and yes, it does have lots of things growing on top.
BTW, I always add egg shells and sometimes if I can catch it before DH dumps it, I toss the cooled water I used to boil eggs in on the pile. Lots of good minerals in that water. Same with water used to boil corn or steam other veggies. I figure some of the good stuff gets into the water and should not be wasted, huh?
We've been using alfala pellets as our greens, along with grass clippings. And, Karen, at the house in Asheville, we found some snakes in February in the torpor state nesting in the compost pile, along with quite a few snake eggs!! I'm sure the folks in Tennessee heard my screaming!
) but that may have something to do with climate because under the snow it seems to break down fine for spring. I also like a bit of texture because the soil has lots of clay so when the compost is worked in it keeps it from compacting too much. Not putting oakleaves or weed heads in. The weed heads I burn, the oakleaves .... well you see the pile up above. Mine is mostly kitchen scrap that I cut pretty small before they go out, dried plant stems, and corrigated cut into small pieces. Inky and I like to sit in the sun and cut up cardboard. The worms like it too!
