[suziequeue]

Just turned compost heap out into bins after about eight months.

WOW!!! It's fantastic.  Everythig is going dark brown/ black. Now they will sweat in the bins all summer and be ready for autumn '11/spring '12

I think I will start adding the wood ash from our stove to the heap this year.

Is that a good idea?

Susanna

[Hermit]

I  would not , it made mine slimey. Put it around your plants when grown instead I find slugs dont like to cross ash.

[Fleecewife]

Wood (but not coal) ash is also excellent for poultry to dust bathe in - gets rid of parasites etc.  Useful in winter when there's no dry soil available. 

But as Hermit says, once it gets wet is goes slimey and congeals into a horrible sludge. Another reason not to mix it in with your compost is that not all plants will like it, so best to keep it separately (I store mine in old sheep-lick buckets with lids) then apply it to those plants which need it, such as stone fruits (plums etc).  It also works well spread thinly on grassland.

[Blonde]

If compost is turned every week and kept moist it should be ready in around 6 weeks. 

You can add shredded paper, grass clippings, cuttings that are cut fine, kitchen waste if you dont have chooks and if you do their manure is good, straw or hay, the old plants from your vegie patch, and any thing else you can find that will brak down in the heap.   I would have 3 bins going, one filling one turning and one empty.  Thios way you never run out of home made compost.  You can use it back in your vegie patch or in pots that you transplant your plug seedlings that turn in  to flowers.