compost

Hi I' a newey to this website, it's brillant isn't it. I have been reading about the questions on composting. I have never had a compost but decided to give it a try so I bought a compost bin from nottingham council this year and it's fantastic and was only �£20 and is quite a large one which opens out at the bottom.
I read what to put in it and it says if you put grass in you must put other things in as well so you don't end up with a soggy mess. So layer everything. I put egg shells in potatoe peelings, cardboard from toilet rolls, weeds with out the flower heads, nettles to activate the compost, flower heads that i have deadheaded, and shredded newspapers, you are suppose to water it now and then too.

But I am wondering if I'm doing something wrong because when i open up my compost lid loads of flies are on the top. Can any one help on this question? [email protected] </font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;"> </pre>[/quote][*]

 

Well, basically it is just part of the process. The flies like the warmth and dark and they are going to go there. You will find as the heat dissipates, both because of the weather getting colder and the compost breaking down, the number of flies will drop off. My suggestion is take the lid off, stand back for a moment, and then dump the new stuff in. Sounds like you are doing a good job.

You might want to have a look at this web-site - what wiggly wigglers don't know about composting - well, I don't think there is anything they don't know about it.

www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/

Enjoy your bin, and think about all the great stuff you'll have to dig in next summer!

 

Welcome Weekend Gardener and well done with your composting. As Rumple says, flies are normal as they are attracted to rotting stuff.

 

I had an email sent to me on the subject of composting and thought it was very kind of him to take the trouble to help me, but unfortunatly i deleted the message by mistake before i had chance to reply and I can't remember the persons name. If this is you could you please email me again.