Are those lawn clippings? Have the in-laws ever used a herbicide on the lawn? I see some weeds growing, but it may not be suitable at all to grow in or underneath if there's treated grass clipping in there.

Otherwise I would be tempted to spread it out and till it in.

Nice salavene! IMO, lack of sunlight is the main cause for your shortcomings on production. How long has this pile been sitting there? Looks more like a dirt pile than a compost pile. What exactly does it consist of and how long has it been "composting?"

I'm with mecdave--- I'd have it tested and be tempted to use it in my plot(s). Maybe a bunch of raised beds, filling it with some of that pile, some more compost, topsoil, peat moss(if necessary), et al.

Any ground dwelling rodents?

Kevin

That's a lot to till in, but dig into the pile. Some grass clipping piles just won't compost. You get layers and layers of clippings. But if the lower layers have rotted (composted) to something looking like dirt, it is liquid gold and should be used. The un-composted stuff should be piled up somewhere else (off to the side?) until it rots down nice.

Then just till up the dirt as deep as possible to loosen it for roots (think plowing). Then plant and stand back.

Dennis

You never know. There might some nice composted material in there. Keep digging and checking it out. If you find some fully composted stuff in there, you can mixed it with some top soil to create new beds. If the stuff has been piling up there for yours, it could be gold mine.

A word from the lazy side: why remove it? Can't you plant right on it?

I know, I know: shut it. However, it may be said that I hate digging and see no value in a "pretty" garden.

Hi All,

Thanks all for the responses:

Mecdave/Kevin: its a combination of grass clippings, old branches, banana leaves, anything else from the country house that was cut down from nature but not trash, etc. The good news is that the pile has been there for years and while I am not sure yet if there is good compost underneath, the lawn or any of the rest of the stuff in there has never been treated. I am actually going to remove all that stuff with weed whackeds (chain saws?? Lol), etc., then till and transplant in that exact space. There could be rodents in there, snakes, etc., I will find out in a few weeks!

Dennis: Yup, I won't be able to till, I will have to breakdown with the machinery/tools (there are even more branches, etc. on top), then start the tilling. Like you said, I will move it to another spot where I can let the stuff compost and then use it in the future.

Seysonn: I tried to dig in, but its pretty deep with weeds that have grown on top. Once I get the tools, I'll have a better idea of what I am working with.

Grubby_me: I wouldn't be against that at all, as you can see we have a banana tree in the center lol. Unfortunately its not a flat smooth pile that I can just plant on... It has a lot of "big" holes.

Hopefully get this pile broken down in a few weeks... will report back! As always, thanks all!

My advice. Leave that pile alone a/ make several raised beds away from the pile/trees. Too many "unknown" variables at play. That is a lot of earthen material to try a/ move.

Johnny

Hey all,

We finally got the tools necessary and got to work. It took about 2 different days and close to 16 hours to level that hill. The bottom of it had definitely been composting for years, so it must be like sitting on black gold!

There happened to be a ton of logs, branches, banana trees, (trash!), etc., in there that hadn't composted and it would have been to much work to fill in the holes (and probably too expensive to buy all that soil). However, as you can see, the natural soil there should be super fertile!

Phase 1 is done and as soon as the newly germinated plants are ready in a week or two, i'll throw them in the garden. The two in there are the scotch bonnets I had on the balcony. Currently germinating I have pumpkin habanero, chocolate habanero and red ghost :).

Phase two will be more peppers, but also a bit of herbs...

At the end of a loooooong day!

Mom-in-law: "I'm not washing those clothes, and get off my clean floor!"

Good job guys. :-)

Yep. Dirty enough to have earned good pepperage.

Keep us up to date!

Dennis

What is that, Coke???

Surely that was worthy of a beer or three!

Thanks guys, will definitely keep you up all up to date!

Those are beers, 3 to be exact! Its called Pilsen, one of the local beers down here in Colombia... Similar to like Miller Lite or Budlight

Nice job salavene! How's the drainage?

Kevin

Good Job, Salevene .
That is what I visioned and said in my first comment. I would do exactly what you have done. I know It must have been a hard job but you will be rewarded for it.
I would mix in some plain garden soil to retain moisture better. Also, probably it is a bit too acidic. Can you get a soil test ?

Great job Sal,
Say, ya'll ever run into any Bushmasters or Fer-de-Lance in your yards? Those could really ruin your day.
The trick to "passive composting" is to get air down to the bottom of the pile. Get a bunch of 1" PVC and drill holes in it 'till it looks like Swiss cheese, and drive them into the ground where you're gonna put your next compost pile. On that sized pile, I'd put at least 10 5' pieces. Let it work for a year, then move it over, bottom on top, etc. Pull the PVC first and re-drive it. You can generally use the bottom stuff immediately after sieving...

Kevin - not sure about the drainage and tough to tell at this point as we have had nothing but rain since we finished... I'll monitor it, somehow? I never knew drainage could be in issue when planting direct into the ground...

Seysonn - soil test might be tough to be honest, but i'll look into it. The soil is mostly fertile here, but if lacking anything I think it might be magnesium... have been using some epsom salt on my other plants and will a little on these as well.

Tom- we were worries about snacks, but thankfully none appeared! Thanks for the insight into the passive composting, will look into it for the next pile.

Salavene: whole different set of issues with in-ground plants. Drainage is much easier to control in a container or a raised bed as opposed to direct native soil growing.

This might help.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: soil basics

For drainage, just take a post hole digger and dig a hole 18" deep. Fill it with water. Time how long it takes the hole to empty of water. Be sure and cover it to keep somebody from stepping in it.
Great drainage would be two hours or less. Bad would be 24 hours.

Thanks Kevin and Tom, I'll check into it.

Looks to me from the original pic that the plot is on a slope, thus well-drained. The hole (leakdown?) test will check the porosity of the soil, which from other pics looks good already. It you till in the compost, it will be even better.

I expect super peppers next year. Plant some good ones.

Dennis

Are you in the swap?

Drainage or soil porosity just below my grass sod is terrible... Solid Red Clay, hence why I live in Clay County, Missouri. Have to go with a raised bed in my area. Lucky you have great soil there..

Hey all,

So I think the soil just needed to settle a bit after tilling as drainage doesn't seem to be an issue. I wanted to we had almost everything in before posting an update. All seems to be going well and after trimming the scotch bonnets (the large ones), their re-growth started right away and appear super healthy.

Dennis - I am not a part of the swap, but would love to join. I have about 6-7 varieties I can offer. How do I get on board?

Thank you all, as always, for your help and support... couldn't have done it without ya!

Steve

This post was edited by salevene on Wed, Nov 19, 14 at 10:17

Sal - Read Thread "Holiday Seed Seap"

I don't think that you should have any drainage issue with that kind of black soil sitting on an old compost dump site. I would want to check the soil pH, more than anything else. Probably it is already rich in nutrients.

Seysonn.

Hey all, just thought I post a holiday update to the "compost garden". I'm still germinating a few more to throw in there and the front half will be all herbs (added lemongrass and citronella recently).

After trimming the scotch bonnets (the two large ones), they are doing incredible... never imagined they would do so good.

{{gwi:2131462}}

I had a ton of grass clippings that did not want to compost. I cleaned the chicken coup out and mixed it in with the grass clippings to quick start. About a month later, it was composting so well it started to smoke. Now folk are going to tell me that was steam, nope... I actually found embers in the thing.

I think a bit of what ever animal waste is around will help kick start the thing, but don't use for a year or two after that to make sure it is safe.

A.J. Drew

ajdrew,
Damp hay will catch on fire easily if stacked too close together. Especially the big round bales. Gotta leave an air space.

Updates as promised! I can't believe how well the Scotch Bonnets are doing after transplanting and trimming them back (the two big bushy ones on the right).

{{gwi:2131463}}

They look good, Sal. How about flowers and fruits ?
You still have a lot more room to grow whatever you like.
I have just germinated some peppers and they are growing under light.
You have the advantage of having your plant out in the garden year round.

Seysonn

Just finished reading all the posts here.... Incredible accomplishment :)

I wish I could plant this early!!! Here in Oregon we need to wait till mid or late April.

Been a bit busy these days, so not so active on the forums. However, I've kept up with the garden and finallyyyyyy, I'm starting to have my first harvest in the spot. Here is a quick update:

Seysonn - well, the extra room has been allocated to my fiance, so there are different herbs and vegetables. I must say, I like it... because now we have thyme as well to make the jerk chicken recipe.

Sal,

Nice plants. All that soil prep ya'll did is paying off. Be planting 'maters today, and twenty or so peppers next week. Gonna plant an overwintered tree hab and just see how big the sucker will get. Now if the storms won't drop any hail...

Thanks all, its been a windy road, but finally starting to get some peppers. I've lost a few trees due to orange rust, one growing oddly and then falling apart and another that just didn't really take off. But overall the garden is doing well. Wanted to share an updated pic!

Lookin' great!

When can we expect to see some Colombian Fuego salsa?

Sal it looks like things came together very nice for you. Nice to see so much hard work pay off.

tomt226 - funny thing is, I frequent this vegetarian restaurant and the owner/chef has this amazing hot sauce that she makes, an oil-based one. We have an agreement whereby she'll teach me how to make it and I'll provide her free peppers... As soon as I learn it, the Colombian Fuego Salsa will be available! haha

Thanks centexan, wasn't easy but feels good to finally start harvesting!