Harvest and test sheets
Each batch you check for finished compost, the germination test result and where it went, plus the pea or bean pot test for any outside material you are unsure about.
For a first pass, neither sheet is essential: a first-season reader has usually nothing to harvest yet, and the pot test is for outside hay, straw, manure or clippings. Use the harvest sheet when Finished compost asks, and the pot test when Leaves, grass and yard does.
Harvest and use
One row per time you take compost out of a bin or batch.
Pea or bean pot test
One row per outside material. Test pots hold the material mixed with potting mix; control pots hold potting mix only.
How to use these sheets
- Harvest rows record checks, not just harvests. If a batch fails the signs or the germination test, write that too, with the date to check again.
- Pot tests need controls. Without control pots you cannot tell damage from a bad batch of potting mix or seed.
- Record, do not conclude. The result column holds what you saw at three weeks. A clean result is one sample; it does not clear the whole pile.
Ingrid Sorensen (a fictional person) potted peas in her neighbor's horse manure mixed with potting mix, with control pots of potting mix alone. At three weeks the manure pots showed cupped leaves and the controls did not, so she wrote "damage in the test pots" and kept the manure off her vegetable garden.
The signs and the germination test say whether compost is mature enough to use around plants. They do not test for pathogens, salts or herbicides. The pot test shows whether peas or beans were damaged by a material; it does not identify the chemical. Your soil lab or extension office settles how much compost a garden needs.