Am I giving the right advice?

My neighbour has been using an old plastic dustbin as a 'compost bin' - basically just as somewhere to put his grass clippings and a few bits of vegetable waste. Recently he turned it out hoping to find decent compost but, of course, all he's got is a very solid and rather nasty smelling mess, so he's asked my advice.

Having looked at it, I see amongst the grass, what appear to be tomato skins etc. so it clearly hasn't rotted at all. This isn't a problem I've had so I'm in unchartered territory as it were, but I'm tempted to suggest he use a spade to break up the mess (which in places is almost like concrete) as much as he can and - using it as 'brown' - mix small amounts of it in with his newer compost.

Would I be giving the right advice?

 

The problem is probably that the bottom of his dustbin is closed - it needs to be open, and placed on soil. And have a lid which is used - to keep the rain off.

A good mix of materials will help, and a very high proportion of grass clippings will always cause slimy anaerobic composting, but other than that opening it up and recomposting it will do the trick - even leaving it in a heap for the winter will do - but it needs breaking up to let some air in, and preferably keeping the rain off it.

 

He has just put it into anaerobic conditions ie. without air. The bacteria that rot it down need air to work. Also the water in the compost material needs to be able to drain away.
So he needs a bin that is open at the bottom. I would not use it as browns. i suspect the horrible slimey mess needs something to open it up a bit, like shredded paper or straw that will allow air to get in.

 

All replies are much appreciated - thank you.

 

my local allotment take some of my wood chippings and mix it with their compost.
if you can get hold of any, makes the best compost you'll get

 

Why are wood chippings so beneficial?

I am considering investing in quite an expensive Makita chipper, so making better compost with some of the resulting chipppings will provide further justification for the outlay

Is wood chippings the same as the sawdust from my chainsaw?

Susanna

 

"Is wood chippings the same as the sawdust from my chainsaw?"

No, they are shaped more like cornflakes ... hmmm ... not sure that's a good analogy either. Flat cornflakes? Lots of bits of twig and stuff in there too.

 

The wood chippings are what they call browns, like straw, shredded paper, shredded cardboard - they are full of carbon. Most compost material such as kitchen waste, lawn mowings, the greens, is full of nitrogen and if not mixed with browns go slimey and horrible. The idea is to mix browns and greens in the proportion of 50:50.

 

I can confirm that when I mixed wood chips with the contents of my compost bin, I got my best compost ever. The wood chips (or flakes) came from having some old tree stumps ground out.

 

We have had an afternoon chipping a bit of a hedge that we have decided to get rid of and we DEFINITELY need a bigger gutsier chipper. At the moment, we are just mixing the chippings with the grass cuttings in the grass cuttings heap (not "in" the dalek). IS it OK to put the mix in the dalek?

Susanna

 

My husband is a cabinetmaker and produces a lot of sawdust but I only sprinkle a tiny amount into my compost - being so fine it packs down solid, whereas chippings are larger and retain a certain amount of air between them. Wood shavings (from when he's planed something) are also useful.