How Do I Inspire People Into Composting?

Another thing I'm troubled with it what sort of composting to recommend to beginners. Hot composting requires more stuff in one go, but less time for results where as cold composting has waste added as and when but requires more patience of the beginner.

I've never done hot composting either. It seems that the C:N Ratio is different to cold composting. As I read when I was a beginner that there has to be more nitrogen than carbon, roughly 3:1 mix for cold composting. How does something that takes longer to decompose (browns) be responsible for heating up a bin even quicker, if it takes twice as long to rot down.

 

Hot composting is hard to do IME. You need plenty of material, and for it to be available at the right time.

Once you are making compost you will have X kg per year. If you use hot composting you will get your first batch sooner, but other than that you will still get X kg per year.

I take the easy route and just chuck it in the compost bin and forget about it for a year. I take note of whether the heap is getting soggy or not, and if it is tip it out and turn it and mix with other stuff, but most years I do absolutely nothing.

I'd be surprised if householders who are not already gardeners, can make compost good enough to use instead of what they buy "potting" compost for. What they will get is something that can be used as a soil conditioner to improve their soil. If they are on a limited budget (and not seasoned gardeners) I can't see them spending any money on that at present. So they might get better soil, and thus better flowers / crops, but I'm not seeing a money save on reduce purchases.

Not having to pay for a Brown Bin is an obvious win, but in the first year they will probably spend that much on buying a council-subsided plastic Dalek (obviously not if they are DIY handy and can bust-up and reconstruct some old pallets ...)

If they are on a water meter they can Pee on their compost heap and save the water from the loo-flush (loo-flushing being a surprising high proportion of water usage in the house)

 

I hesitate to post this as I've said it before several times, but if you get worms on the go in a 'Dalek' they'll produce compost at least three and possibly four times faster than normal composting. We've two Daleks with zillions of worms chomping away and it all started with a handful of worms left over from a fishing trip.

 

Do they have to be any particular type of worms Dave? I think earth worms live in my bin, which might explain why I can't fill it, but I think there's some special compost worms we're meant to buy isn't there?

 

You need brandling aka tiger worms and they are a completely different kettle of munchers to earth worms. You can buy on-line, but probably would be cheaper if you've got a fishing/shooting shop near you.
There's an awful lot of twaddle talked/posted about how to start a worm bin and care for them - the bedding they need etc, but I just chucked a handful into a half filled bin and within a few months they'd multiplied into hundreds if not thousands. We've now two bins heaving with worms and whenever I take out any compost I chuck any worms I find into our "normal" compost heap where they continue to chomp away and multiply.

 

Do you mean you use the same worms as the type you would have in a wormery? I have a wormery full of worms, but was told they only eat food waste and would freeze in this weather.

How many gardeners on this forum use the darleks instead of pallet compost bins? I've always used the pallet bins as they are cheaper and easier to turn (haven't tried but I've been told).

But I agree that most beginners will want to just buy a darlek. But how do you turn them? I remember reading somewhere that you just piece holes into the mixture with a broom handle, but is this really enough?

Also how many darleks should a garden have depending on it's size.

 

That's the THEORY Jane. Ours have survived some VERY severe and prolonged frosts. They just huddle down in the warmer middle of the bins during very frosty weather. Some may perhaps die, but ours certainly seem to regain the population size pretty quickly.
When I started the first worm bin I bubble wrapped it during winter, but when the wrapping degraded and fell off I didn't replace it and the worms have been just fine. At present when we open the bins to add stuff there's scores of worms visible.
Yes, they will be the same worms as in your wormery if they are little stripey ones.

 

Me! But only because I'm too lazy to build a pallet-bin. I have two Daleks, bought when council first offered sponsors bins as I wasn't getting around to making some wooden ones ... still haven't! But I also have massive "freestyle" compost heaps.

I juts lift my Dalek off the heap, and then sort it out. Uncomposted top and sides back into the bin - now put alongside the original position - and the good stuff from the bottom / middle onto the garden. Or mix the lot up and "spoon" back into the repositioned, now empty, Dalek.

I think it important that its on bare earth (rather than concrete / slabs).

Doubt it! But you can get a "puller" - if that's the right term? "Stirrer" maybe. Push in, then pull up. When you push in the "flanges" fold up, when you then pull up the "flanges" drop down and pull material to loosen it up. No idea if it works, or givs you a hernia!

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/compost-stirrer-aerator-pid7870.html

 

I spoke to another lady yesterday and they said that the reason why they gave up on composting was because it took 18 months to get their compost.

They used a darlek, added activators, "all the right stuff" and turned it. They decided it wasn't worth the space as it took too long and decided to put a plant there instead.

I'm expecting to come across a few more people like this and wonder what I could suggest to them in order to speed up the time it takes them to produce compost. I do wonder if darleks take longer to compost things than a pallet bin. I've always felt this way towards them for some reason but I'm not sure why.

 

Is this a council run facility? Shame if it is, because I was going to suggest that you contact your local Green Party for help and advice. This is right up there street, and bang in their area of expertise.

 

Have you seen the results from Zigs Bokashi experiment?

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/bokashi.47870/

 

I have heard that the black plastic heats up in Summer and that improves things ...

Obviously more opportunity for air to get in on a slatted [pallet] construction, which would help prevent a soggy mess - but also makes it more difficult to keep the temperature up.

Dunno the answer though I'm afraid.

Hot composting needs enough of the right materials at the right time. Hard to do in a small garden ... unless you take in materials from neighbours? Neighbours save the brown-bin rental, composter is able to make X-times as much compost

 

P.S.

Pee on the heap. Makes a huge difference to temperature rise. Fresh farm-yard-manure mixed in in layers would do the same job ...

 

Nope it's ran by Essex Wildlife Trust. The council have nothing really to do with the place. I'm not sure if I could get politics involved in this though. It may look as though I have a hidden agenda to the public.