compost extracted

It's not bad Fran , the grit will serve for drainage in the pots .....

hadn't thought of that! it'd save having to sieve it - once I can lever it out of the compster in the first place. I'll have to put some plastic down to catch the spillage. I'll use it in tandem with the bought compost, should make both stretch further.

Good stuff!

mindc out another lot today, yanked some twigs out; really hrd work to get it loose enough to come out. had to sieve it, so much gravel, and the tea-bags i put are stil there - the contents were gone, just the bags, I must remember to cut the bags open and just put the tea in in future.

Seiving is such hard work and very tough on the back muscles.....

nods! I've been doing it a little at a time, because I've only been able to excavate a little at a time - when I was doing a mega-sieve that did my back in, even though I'd rigged up a sieve stand (http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/224984-improvised-sieve-stand/member/franl155) - I didn't have to hold the weight of the loaded sieve but still had to bend down to waist-height, and that wasn't much fun at all.