Harvesting the cover crop

While sitting around waiting for the ground to warm enough for planting tomatoes, we decided to harvest the cover crop. We chopped it all up and put it in the compost bin. To be frank, it had gotten pretty ugly. It looked gangly, like an awkward teenager.

It turned out to be great family activity. Everybody got into the act.

Finally my compost is really starting to heat up. In the fall, I get tons of leaves from the neighbors. The carbon to nitrogen ratio is so high that my greens immediately burn up and disappear. Over the winter, the pile gently breaks down, more from worm activity and leaf molds than anything else. But now, it's finally gotten to that heat that kills weed seeds. And it makes a good seed warmer too!