turned

I turned my compost pile this week. Didn't expect to get much finished compost out of it- there was just about two inches on the bottom of the pile- that dark band. I put it in a bag for use later. I hadn't turned the pile all winter (as usual). The outer layers of it were very dry. A lot of that I pulled out and tossed onto the leaf mulch pile, the rest turned back and mixed in. 

Collected all the dead, dries stems from monarda, echinacea,

gladiolas, daylilies, turtlehead and salvia around the yard- that made a base for the new pile that will aerate well for a while.

Left some stems standing in the turtlehead patch by the garden, as they're still nice to look at until more stuff grows.