This is our WWOOFer, Alice Farneti, who is just about to open up and empty the compost bin. The triple bin system works well in our climate ( the middle of England) with each bin being left for about 6 months after it is completely full and turned. We spread the compost in the spring as a mulch to retain the soil moisture and also in the autumn to control weed growth. However we grow a green manure crop on some areas of the crop rotation.

Alice also tried the practical activity -  Compare the colour, stoniness and structure of organically and non-organically (synthetically) farmed soil. She compared the soil from our plot (which had added organic matter and compost for over 30 years) with soil from a neighbour's farm field (which had no added organic matter or compost in that time). The photo below shows the two buckets of soil. It's easy to spot the difference - in terms of colour, stoniness, crumb structure, and inevitably soil biota and soil fertility!