Use last years compost now???

I hauled clippings home all summer and ended up with around 20 Cu Yds after they settled down. They composted all winter and the snow never would stick on the pile. There was steam most days for almost 2 months. I dug into the pile tonight and ran some through the Troy Bilt 10HP shredder and the results are astounding!! BEAUTIFUL material! Is this something i can use now in my garden or do i need to leave it longer? I dug all the way into the pile with the tractor and it's cool now......

Great job Matthew! Compost usually goes through a couple of heating cycles. Sounds like you had that. Looks like it is ready to use to me. Any thing that hasn't finished will continue to compost wherever you place it.

Wait, you said you hauled home clippings? Grass clippings? Hopefully you didn't get any weed killers with that. You might want to take a bit of that and plant some seeds in it in a pot and make sure the seeds germinate and grow. Maybe it is not a problem, Maybe I am being to careful, but I would hate to see you contaminate a larger garden area.

Miles Flansburg wrote:Wait, you said you hauled home clippings? Grass clippings? Hopefully you didn't get any weed killers with that. You might want to take a bit of that and plant some seeds in it in a pot and make sure the seeds germinate and grow. Maybe it is not a problem, Maybe I am being to careful, but I would hate to see you contaminate a larger garden area.

Most of these clippings come from private lawns and i don't use pesticides other than weed and feed early in the spring after 1st cleanup because a couple customers INSIST and i mulch the first couple rounds in the spring after that. I hope there isn't a residual.

If the pile is not maintaining a high temperature and the material is no longer identifiable, then it is probably ready to go.
The third picture looks like finished compost to me.