No, not the Byrds song (orginally Pete Seeger but made famous by the band) but how to make compost. This afternoon I spotted that the more mature side of my compost bin had reached the dark, earthy stage so I set to running it through a riddle to create a good quality (if sometimes slightly weedy) compost to enrich the soil and a coarser grade (sticks, lumps of clay and so forth) that works well as a mulch. From time to time, something shows up that needs more time in the heap, so that just goes back on the live side, doubtless carrying a healthy array of microorganisms that can get working as that also turns into compost.

Having cleared space, the newer side gets turned into the gap, along with some fresh material pruned from the garden today, creating a large pile that should be able generate and hold a certain amount of internal heat. That will be left to sit for a few months while I add into the empty space with occasional prunings, kitchen peelings and coffee grounds, etc. Eventually, that will get another turn, perhaps with a smaller harvest in the autumn and a bigger one in the spring.

Turn, turn, turn and that cycle of plant material into plant food (and, eventually back to plant material) continues.