compost too fibrous

tiredwithtwins

hiya,
wonder if anyone can help/advise me please?
I have two compost bins that ive been filling over the past 2 yeasr ... but when I needed to use the compost earlier this year I found that my ex had been putting unshredded branches & bramble branches in, so the compost is just full of unrotted branches (amongst other things ... lots of bits of brick and pot that hes just chucked in from the old plants )
he didn't do it on purpose (I don't think), but it spoilt my two big bins of compost so this year I haven't grown much except strawberries.
is there any way I can salvage the compost?
thanks
sue

molerat

I usually coarse sieve mine and any compostable stuff goes back in the bin.

DaftyDuck

A quick way of sieveing it is to empty it on a patio or drive, and use a rake to spread it out. The twiggy bits get pulled out of the compost (and, in my case, go back in to be recomposted... they will break down with time). Bits of brick and pot... now they might take rather too long!

madjackslam

I also heard Bob Flowerdew say that these twiggy bits are useful to inoculate new batches of compost. In other words, they provide them with the fungi and bacteria they need to get started. I'm not entirely convinced, but worth considering.

tiredwithtwins

thank you for your replies :T

I think my only course of action is to just start again with whats left, and try and chop up the twigs and branches ... thatll be nice!

thanks again :T

DaftyDuck

... or, if you leave the twigs & brambles out in the sun for a day or three, you can burn them easily enough, and either put the ash straight on the veg garden (potash-rich for roots, raspberries love it), or then tip it in the compost bin.