I have done this with fallow beds, just build a compost pile over the whole thing and let it sit. Next season, either dig it in or just plant through if you're planting tomatoes etc. It's known as sheet composting and is a great way to improve soil. I put finished or nearly compost down first, then layer up on top of it. It does wonders.

OH....I just had an idea. I know I read somewhere a post by a gardener who had luck planting under trees, by placing cardboard under the plant and filling in with soil and that it gave he plant a head start and allowed it to get established before the tree roots penetrated the cardboard. Maybe I could do that with my vegetable beds. They are actually somewhat lower now, I could lay down cardboard, pile up the compost on top of it and plant vegetables in the compost above the cardboard.

I don't make any finished compost myself, I"m not able to turn a compost pile, I suppose bagged Coast of Maine compost would work? Expensive though.

Frankly I kind of missed that you have some bins partially composted. You could use what you have already partially composted (cardboard under if you want or not) and then cover that with some loose soil, finished compost or mulch. As long as you don't want to use right away, this approach will be pretty similar to trench composting or lasagna beds: doing in late summer or fall will likely mean it's ready for spring. The advantage of a trench is you really don't need to precompost at all.

The main limitation here is whether you find your partially composted stuff too smelly or attractive to bugs. Exposing to air and covering with soil or mulch should make the smell go away pretty quick. If you have local compost worms in soil, they will have a party. If you have large uncomposted bits you don't want in there, toss them back in your bin for next year.

Sounds good Armour. Sounds about right. Next spring we'll have something good to work with. We'll still have fall clean up and all that debris to add too and more grass clippings.

You don’t have to turn compost bins. It speeds things up but it is not necessary. The trench, lasagne and sheet composting methods described don’t need turning either.

No, I know I don't have to turn it, it's just that, leaving a small compost bin to just break down on it's own, takes forever and so, to improve the soil in as many beds as I need to, I'm just not producing enough organic material to do the job so slowly. I thought bringing it onto the top of the veggie beds, might speed things up and I wasn't using the beds anyway.

I have found that adding manure to my oak leaves helps them compost in no time. Seriously, it went from two year with no aeration to filling in the fall and using in the spring. I use either alpaca or turkey manure.

Are you talking about raw manure? Did you have a source for it near you?

Yes and no! The turkey manure was raw from a local turkey farm, while the alpaca manure was WELL-aged from another local farm. Alpaca manure can supposedly be used directly on plantings and that's where I used most of it. The turkey manure broke those leaves down so quickly I couldn't believe it. I only use this compost in flower beds so I can't comment on adding manure to compost used for vegetable gardens.

I guess I need to look around and see what is available here.. did you have to pay for it?

No, I wouldn't use it on veggies

The alpaca was $25 for a scoopful or about 1/2 truck full, but he had a lot so he gave us a full truck load for the same price. The turkey manure was $3 for a super-sized trash can full. Next, I want to find the off cuttings from sheep sheering, although I'm thinking I could get that from the alpaca folks. It's meant to be great for compost and helping to aerate the soil. Usually horse manure is free for the taking, but it's much easier to me (for the price) to have it scooped into a truck or trash can. I store the TM in the trash can and put the AM in 5 gal buckets I get from a painter friend. Then I try to hide them behind a shed.

Sounds like you have a lot of good things going on for your soil. I'll have to think about trying to find some sources, because I could use some soil improvement.

With such great compost you would think I'd have the best roses, but alas. :-( I just Googled sources near me and found these. It does help to have a friend with a truck however. :-)

I hear ya. [g]. I try very hard to get healthy no spray roses and this year, the foliage on the roses is bad. We have had so much heat and humidity. Yesterday I googled photos of diseased rose foliage and I think I have blackspot at the very least. And I've been watering on the leaves, which I shouldn't have been doing. And while the first flush of blooms was gorgeous, the 2nd flush has been nothing to write home about. And then there's the beetles and whatever it is that chews up the buds. Roses are not easy! I find myself wondering this year if I wouldn't be happier finding something else that is fragrant but less trouble. Then I was looking at photos this morning and wow, some of those early photos of roses, I think it would be hard to give them up. :-)

We have a van...oh, I just thought of it, our son has a truck, I forgot. [g]