Composting methods

looking forward to hearing the results, it looks great!

 

Hi Dizy, how about that? it worked, I managed to post an observation & a pic I think I could reduce the size of the pic a little but hey thats O.K. I almost followed michaelmasdai's insructions, thanks for the comment

 

Looks like a lot of hard work to me .

I use standard daleks and have no trouble with them.

 

Hard work to make but make compost much faster- and rotating the drums is easier than turning compost over. I have a dalek and it does make good compost but as I can't turn it with a fork very easily it takes ages. The rotating one is much quicker, it is just finishing a second load since Feb.

 

I like the look of that Cothey!..and I do have access to a welder so I might just have a go...that is if I can lay my hands on a drum,they are as scarce as hens teeth around here as everyone is after them for water butts

 

I was interested to read in one of Beth Chatto's books that she never turns her compost heap. She says that it does take longer, but it gets the same result in the end and is a lot less work.

 

If you don't turn your compost heaps the outside never gets done properly it doesn't reach the required temperature,its as well to turn it so the outer bits get done the rotary compost tumbler takes the hard work out of it.

 

I don't usually mix mine neither. When I empty it I just put back what isn't rteady. I suppose that is an annual mixing!

 

I suspect that Beth Chatto would put the undone outside bits back into the next compost pile - but you do need a lot of space for that. I am sure she had several on the go at once.

 

I have Kitchen waste, shredded paper, soaked carboard & grass cuttings, checking it ntoday there very little progress dut it was hot in there, Oktarine was right it itmtook a couple of hrs to produce and I,m not sure there is any real advantage. i do find turning my heaps over quite hard work, but then I find most gardening hard work. I have ventured into the realm of raised beds as I beleive them reasier to maintain.So far so good.

 

Why 3 bins of 4' x 4' x 4'

As the first one is filled it reduces in bulk, you move it into a second bin which can therefore be smaller and the 3rd bin smaller than the second.

bin 1 = 6' x 4' x 4'

bin 2 = 4' x 4' x 4'

bin 3 = 3' x 4' x 4'


any thoughts, ideas or am I talking cobblers

 

I read in Bob Flowedews Bible of Oganic gardening that it was best to work with large amounts if you want to get it hot enough so one heap is the current one that you are building and the other is the built one that gets turned over into the empty space to keep it heating up.

yes I have never done the leaves trick I think they might need to be really really wet like the ones in forests.

If they heat up quicker could you have smaller bins and just roll them round the veg plot paths -good exercise! I think I will try it.

I have been collecting seaweed and have a three foot high bin outside under my kitchen outflow pipe which I angled into it. I made some holes in the side high up to let out water so it doesnt all just flow over the top and am looking for a wire basket to just lift it out in. Its too early to say whether the seaweed is doing well in th compost bins and heaps - At the moment I'm collecting all types.
Also I read soemwhere that bracken is good composting material does anyone have any ideas about this as I have a huge supply.

 

The ideal is a hot compost heap, which will sterilise and destroy seeds. But as Lapod says it needs to be very big and is beyond most of us. You need to reach a critical mass, which in practice is about a cube of 8 or 10 foot. In the old days haystacks, if they were wet inside, could compost and get so hot they could burst into flames.

 

Hi there everyone

I need to treat the soil in one part of my garden, is there any good mulch available at garden centres?

I know it is probably a silly question but i am very new to this composting thing. I asked over the phone to the Garden Centre up the road but the poor lad sounded very vague about the whole business :confused: