Instructions On Composting..

I think they are a waste of time. 1) unlikely that your compost will be "fine" enough to just shovel out through the door 2) unlikely that the rest of the heap will then just "settle" into the gap you have left 3) Its an easy route in for rats etc.

Lift the whole thing off, put it along side, fork out the top / sides that have not composted (enough) and stick that in the "new" pile, and then use the pile of good compost that is left. It you can be bothered to do this mid season, mix the lot up, and then put it back that is no bad thing

Too much trouble, and they are fussy eaters. But if you have time, and inclination, to look after one then have a go. No doubt that the material they produce will be top-notch. I've never had the time, and our household wouldn't be thoughtful enough to keep acidic material out, and to make sure they the worms had enough food at all times and without too much / too little moisture. Just my opinion though. Chuck the lot in the compost bin instead

 

I've just nailed 4 pallets together to make a compost bin,is it best to leave the top open?thanks.

 

You ought to put something on the top to keep the rain off - otherwise it will get soggy in the winter (and the composting process may become anaerobic as a result). Plastic sheet just so the rain runs off the sides, or some corrugated iron for a roof if you can rig something up?

 

Thank you,that's what I shall do,thanks again.

 

Wow, I never realised there was so much to composting - I have 2 bins that are basically old bits of furniture cobbled together to make a box shape with lids ... had them for a couple of years, never turned them. after the first year, the compost was lovely but a couple of years ago my now ex put all the twigs and branches in from the privet he chopped down ...I now have very twiggy compost!! he also emptied some containers into them, they were big containers that I put a house brick in the bottom so they didn't blow over ,,, he chucked it all in the bins, so there are house bricks to fish out too. think ive got them all out now, but it was a bit of a surprise to find a brick in there when I went poking about to see how stuff was rotting down

 

You will get the twiggy stuff in there as twigs are high in carbon which takes longer to rot down. Seive the twigs off and tip it back into the compost bin if it really bothers you. Or if your privet cuttings are soft growth you could do what I do and run a mower over them before you tip them into the bin. This stops the cuttings forming a mat and slowing the decomposing down I have found.

 

Great thread Shiney, thanks for taking the time to post. The more i think i know, the less i actually know I would have thought that an abundance of stuff like saw dust and wood shavings would make for the perfect compost and help break down my clay soil!

Anyway, i like the pee suggestion, now i have an excuse

 

I have two questions please
1. I chuck all my kitchen peelings and 'off' fruit and veg in the compost bin - should I be chopping it all up before it goes in? ie, chucked half a melon and 4 apples that the kids had left - should I have chopped them up into smaller chunks?
2. I find there are loads of titchy flies in the bin when I take the lid off to chuck new stuff in - is this because im not putting enough paper type stuff in ?

thank you!!

 

It'll rot down quicker if it is chopped up.

Think the flies will come no matter what at this time of year, but layers of crumpled paper/cardboard will give a better carbon/nitrogen ratio, and stop it turning into a slimey mess

 

ah thank you so much Potash

 

You wouldn't by any chance have been brought up on "The starving Children of Africa would give their eye teeth for what you've left on your plate" guilt trip as I was @shiney!? Not 1 Pea or crumb of bread was to be left on your plate. To be serious I'm glad I was brought up that way, it horrifies me to read about the obscene wastage these days that so many are guilty of.

 

Snap, only difference was I had to cycle rather than walk about the same difference to get to the sweet shop on my own from the age of about 8 (nowadays parents would be had up for neglect if they allowed that no doubt). Agree re learning how to budget too and my mental athematic got quite good working out how many gob stoppers and aniseed balls I could get for my pocket money. There was only 1 serious drawback to all of this scenario. There was a bookies next door to the sweetshop and I got very interested in all the goings on. So much so that I got into conversation with some of the regular punters who then put bets on for me (6d each way!!!!!)instead of me buying sweets. I still remember my huge (for me) win(the odds were 28/1) on a horse called Nicolas Silver in The Grand National, lots of sweets were bought that day!