Composting

[Weeterrier]

Well done you

[dirtyboots]

What sort of compost bins do you think are best?

I have some old pallets kicking about and fancy using them,has anybody made a bin out of them?



What I could do with really is a strong back and loads of energy!

I have quite a big patch of ground where I've been throwing the waste instead of making compost,needless to say it's a right mess!

[Amo]

I've used pallets in the past and they make great bins. Only downside is it's not treated wood and you are dealing with a rotting process here so they don't last forever.

You have a big place, does it produce much waste yet??

If you haven't got the stuff to fill a large bin, go for a couple of medium sized ones. You will want as big as you can get eventually but if they're too big with not enough waste in them, they take forever to get going. I have 6 one metre cube ones but would prefer 3 two meter ones. Perhaps when these bins (wooden slat ones like pallets would be) have started to give up I'll go for the bigger ones.

[Weeterrier]

I have six green daleks, I have never tried any other kind. I don't bother turning the contents over, I just give them a year to rot down, and spread in the Autumn at the same time I am ready too fill the daleks again. They make gorgeous compost. A year may seem a long time, but at my age it comes very quickly.
However, Crocus have a good deal on the wooden slatted ones, so I have two of them for my leafmold.
By the way, my council sell the daleks for £15. They also give away old wheely bins free. I have two for water butts.

[totp]

I think I have mentioned this before, but the best compost bin I have had is an old fridge-freezer. I have lain it down on it's back and put the compost in there. there are two containers so oyu are able to make a hot heap quite quickly. Last year I produced 4 loads of compost, and over here, with such a long winter the compost is only warm enough to rot down from April to October. it seems to get really hot and breaks down so quickly. If you can get hold of an old one I would highly recommend it. ;D

[Deleted]

dear dirty boots, all sounds good, don't forget to pee on it sometimes, fixes nitrogen and encourages composting. i have 3,
one for kitchen waste, one for leaf mold and another for garden stuff. remember to cover it, keeps the nurients from escaping etc
good luck

[Chuckles]

Does anyone make thier own ? ? ? ....... I've got 3 of the darlek type compost bins and last week I fetched some lovely compo out of the bottom of 2 of them. The whole of the bins hasn't composted down yet but I managed to get 2 old compost bags full to keep me going.



I'd be interested in what everyone else composts. I compost all the household waste I can, loo roll holders, newspaper, veg peelings, tea bags etc etc and garden bits and bobs, also shreddings from shrub trimmings etc from the garden.

I always seem to have a lot of worms in the bins especially around the inside edge of the lids, does anyone else get them, they sometimes slide down the outside of the ben and I have to scoop them up and put them back slimey beggars. The other day I was amazed when I heard a plop as I turned the lid over and I've never seen this many before. Imagine if they'd dropped on my foot ;D



Need some help here, tonight I went to put some garden bits from today in one of the bins and spotted these growing on the surface, never seen fungi growing before and wondered if anyone could advise. They are growing in the shreddings from some Sycamore, I think that was the last shreddings I put in this particular bin. Help, should I remove them or what ? ? ?

[Tig]

You can compost fungi Chuckles, I reckon something has eaten the heads off those two

I'm the same as you for what goes in to my compost bin, plus egg shells. Don't put the lawn mowings in because I used a lawn weed, feed and moss killer earlier this year and the advice is you cannot use the compost for two years if you have used this (that'll teach me to read the box before I buy in future!)
Worms always gathering around the bin lid, but at the moment there is an ants nest in it - and they are hatching!! Well they are hatching everywhere today

x Tig

[Chuckles]

One of my bins has an ants nest in and another has a Bees nest.

Those Fungi are completely smooth on the top Tig and I don't think they have been eaten, I can normally see on the surface if I've had criiters rummaging about. There are about 10 or 12 of fungi all told. Weird looking things.

[totp]

I get lots of fungi growing on my compost although not on the newly composted stuff, on the stuff that has been in the bin for a few months. I just dig it in and leave it. As for what I put in. The same as you but this year I have been using my egg shells to stop slugs (not that it has worked). However, I did find that the egg shells didn't decompose in the bin. I also put meat bones in to the compost. The meat decomposes but the bones don't and I throw them out when I am digging the compost in.

[Ladygardener]

I have one of the black darlek composters too and put the same as you all in it. I also tear up my newspapers and cereal boxes and some bills go in too when I've paid them. I compost all my garden cuttings so long as they are'nt diseased. I sometimes use garotta to activate it a bit if it's not been very hot. I get usable compost about twice a year from it. This year I'll be adding it to the veg bed. I use my egg shells and used coffee grounds to put around the delpheniums and don't add them to the composter. I've also put the contents of the hoover into it. ;D I love making my own compost.

[Ruthie]

I have a green bin and 2 working compost bins (made from our old coal bunker and the garden gates) and I also have a large storage container for rotted stuff. I'm a bit haphazard about what I put on though and am not always meticulous about shredding woody bits so it takes a long time to rot down.

They say you can never make enough compost and I agree. I use it every time I plant something and use it as a mulch too (although it's full of weed seeds so that causes more work).

Love those worms Chuckles. Mum has loads in her little green bin too but I don't see many here (probably 'cos OH goes rooting about in there when he's planning on going fishing................)

[Deleted]

Im very lazy when it comes to composting. I generally find a corner and dump the cuttings there. I will be complaining one day about some plant infection because of it I may get a bin then

[grannyjanny]

Tig what sort of feed & weed did you use? I thought it was only 4 lots of grass cuttings couldn't be composted.
Janet.

[Tig]

I used Wilkies Feed, weed and moss killer Janet - and I read somewhere that the chemicals may not break down in the composter for a couple of years, so not worth risking it on veg plots

x Tig

[Barbara]

compost wonderfull stuff, can't make enough of it, but to rot it down quicker, you gotta pee in it ;D, my neighbours dont compost so they give me their summer bedding when its over, and i give them a bucket of compost when its ready.

[Plocket]

I use a dalek compost bin and unfortunately only have room for the one. Ideally we'd have two for all our kitchen waste and stuff. Anyway - we compost all our veg peelings, any paper with our address on which I shred first, some of the rabbit sawdust goes in but often it has to go in the dustbin because there isn't room in the composter. I also bake eggshells then put them in the compost bin. The compost I get is just wonderful, but I'm not raiding our compost bin in the near future because I'm not sure whether the bee is still nesting in there or not. AND I think there's a mouse nest in there so I'm not keen to find out for certain!!!

[Weeterrier]

I am ridiculous when it comes to composting, even bringing home teabags, paper plates,serviettes and salad leftovers from trips out.
Obviously, all the usual stuff goes in, but you can also empty your hoover bag (or if FA is reading this, your vacuum cleaning bag) in as well. I shred all my junk mail and paper too. But I have six bins on the go, the dalek ones, so I have plenty of room. And the peeing is good.

STEVE..........contact your local authority, they may have the bins and they are usually really cheap. I got some of mine for a fiver. If you want a water butt too, I got old wheelie bins from the council free and I use them.

Even more than composting I enjoy making leafmold. I use two of the crates that Crocus have on special offer, but black bags with holes punched in works a treat too.

[Weeterrier]

Mine always have mouse nests in so I cannot just delve in for the good stuff on a whim either. I'm not frightened, but I don't want to break up their happy wee home.

[Deleted]

I have a pond thats become home to breeding mozzies dont think id want to breed mice as well ;D Water butts a good idea though. Always wanted to get a big butt ;D

[Shrubrose]

I have one black dalek composter (plan to get more) and a corner of the garden that I sling grass cuttings on and woody bits too. Lovely compost from the 'corner' but as SR says - full of weed seeds - dandelion and buttercup especially

Like lots of you, we put anything and everything in the 'dalek' and it's full of worms - no mice, bees or fungi yet. Some interesting insect life though

[Weeterrier]

Jul 23, 2008 15:13:22 GMT stevemc said:

I have a pond thats become home to breeding mozzies dont think id want to breed mice as well ;D Water butts a good idea though. Always wanted to get a big butt ;D

Steve, I'm adjacent to open farmland on all sides, so I have little fieldmice nesting almost everywhere. So you probably won't have the problem, especially if you cover the door of the composter with something mice cannot get through. Unless you're in the country too.

[Deleted]

Yep im in the country with farms on 2 sides of our estate. Just on the border of Dublin.
Big difference from the concrete jungle i grew up in London ;D

[Weeterrier]

Same with me Steve, I grew up in Glasgow, though it wasn't as bad as a concrete jungle. Council House built in the forties, so we all had decent gardens and parks nearby.
Ah well, it's mice in the compost for you probably ;D

[nightowl]

Jul 24, 2008 12:27:51 GMT stevemc said:

Yep im in the country with farms on 2 sides of our estate. Just on the border of Dublin.
Big difference from the concrete jungle i grew up in London ;D

Steve, when you say "estate", do you mean a large house with lots of acres and maybe a farm or two , or do you mean estate as in "council" ?

[4pygmies]

I LOVE home made compost and have several compost bins on the go, dotted about my garden. I still think the old fashioned wooden ones made out of old palettes make the best compost ever but since my well documented battle against the rodent hordes I have had to abandon that method and use the cheapo council dalek type. I've found that they retain the moisture much more so tend to make soggier compost but that's OK in my free draining sandy soil To make life harder for the rodents I now stand my bins on sheets of builder's expanded lathe which works OK but is a bit of a pain when you empty them (they just chew through chicken wire).
The best compost I ever made was when my sister used to pile her horse muck in one of the wooden bins, after a year it was bloomin' booootiful! My OH had to decant it though as the rats had nested in it I put it in the flower garden as I didn't fancy growing my vegetables in rat sh*t........ They spoil all my fun...

[Chuckles]

I'm glad you said that about the Dalek ones making moister compost, I've notice mine is quite moist. You'll love this 4P not ;D in one of the 2 bags I recently got from my bins I came across something sharp as I was getting compo out by hand to top up some pots it was a rats skull, yes the teeth was the sharp bit. I didn't half dither I can tell you.

I'm seriously thinking of having another bin somewhere, I really need one. I find the Dalek ones good and have in the past had a solid wooden one but am thinking of doing a home made one in a very dry unusable corner of the veg garden. So, it would be 3 sided and as one side is open trellis and the the other a fence panel I will need protect them, maybe a two sided wooden frame with poly stapled on and a chicken wire front, not sure, any thoughts

I put grass cutting in my bins but tend to bag it and add some after I've added dry stuff, also but the chicken poo in as well. I try and keep a balance of wet and dry because I don't find it easy or practical to turn the compo.

[4pygmies]

Yucky yuck, Chuckles! But at least it was a dead one (the best sort)....the skull eh? Lovely..... The darker side of me says Good, death to all rodents! But the rational side says Crunchies....are there any more in there? Is it a decoy skull? To disguise their real purpose.... Be very careful.......

About the new bin - I just wondered if you could make a leaf bin in that corner instead? Just with wire and posts....dunno if you have one at all.. But if you want it for compost, I think you really need four solid sides to keep the light out. And be careful about rat access if it's near a boundary fence..the little blighters are very good at tunnelling.....I won't go on though ;D

[Chuckles]

I'll be careful 4P ;D

idea about the leaf bin, now on my job list of jobs to sort before autumn. I've been checking my bins this morning and am amazed at how quickly they are breaking down atm. It's the shredding I've been doing with my new shredder I reckon, because the branches are broken down into small pieces and the leaves too they get composting quicker. They are quite hot too atm you can smell the heat when you take the lid off. Had a smell outside the back door this morning too, had forgotten to empty the blue bucket that has all the compostable house waste in, half a cucumber had gone all slimey in the bottom and my god did it whiff

[totp]

Have you smelt nettle tea? now that is a really bad smell. By the way how long do you keep it before you use it? I have an old container to which I add nettles and then as I use the liquid top up with more water.