When is compost ready?

[melly]

I have a spinning composter...fairly large. We put straw, grass clippings, and peels of veggies, etc. in there. How do I know when it is ready to put in my garden? It is the first time I have composted.

[jwg]

when it looks like dirt, not vegetables straw and grass. keep turning until it is uniform.

[Gio]

It's called Black Gold. A wonderful dark combination of nutrients for your garden soil. You may have to sift it to remove stems which have not fully decomposed. DH made a simple frame covered on one side with chicken wire which was quite adequate.

[morwen]

My husband is the composter here. He's also an engineer with an eye for detail (or overkill depending on your point of view). After sifting he puts what I would call "finished" compost in open plastic garbage cans and continues to stir it up for awhile saying that it needs to cure. I don't know the science behind that (he does) but his result is truly "Black Gold".