making compost

I'm new to the site but have enjoyed reading the posts on compositing. I've been compositing for about 7 years and have to confess that my compost or rather 2 of them now, are constructed out of chicken wire and a couple of wooden stakes to hold the wire in place. I just chuck a variety of things in it, water it periodically and do absolutely nothing else and I have great compost but it does take about 6 months (hence 2 compost sites). I never put perennial weeds in or weeds with seed heads or the roots but I do sling in old cut down plants, all uncooked household waste, hoover dust, cardboard toilet rolls and egg cartons, newspaper all torn up. I think the secret is to mix the layers ie grass cuttings, paper, cut down plants and if you've a shredder, finely chopped up hardwood. When you have the layers right you will find all the worms arriving. I think they're called brindling worms, they are red but I don't know where they come from they just arrive. You will get the odd mouse and the foxes love grapes and advocado pear. I have yet to find a snake but I always treat the compost with respect as I'm not keen on anything jumping out of it. The hardest bit is turning it over periodically. This is a bit backbreaking but I probably do this twice a year. You need to get the sides of the compost put into the middle and the middle moved to the sides so that the air can circulate everywhere. You shouldn't have any offensive smell (often too much grass cuttings heaped on in one go) but it's lovely when you get the crumbly soil. Well happy compositing.

 

The worms you refer to are called brandlings (good bait for fresh water fishing). As for snakes I remember once finding slow worms in my fathers compost, gave me a bit of a start!!

 

When i visited a new customers house way back in the early days, I checked out the compost bin, 6'long x 3'deep and 3'high, imagine my horror, when i peered over and came face to face with an adder, It's mouth opened, take it from me it wasn't smiling or greeting me, we weren't too far apart either. I already had a big phobia on snakes, anyway, i came away totaly unscathed, but scared whitless, if you get my meaning. I have since seen them on the road with me driving towards them, Blimey, do you know I never managed to hit one yet! they just spring out of the way, they must do. But now we live in a snake free zone, too high, too cold, But my customers at sea level have no end of slow worms, they are just as horrible. I'd rather stand next to a rat than be in the same county as a snake or snake impersonator.

 

How lucky your cutomers at sea level are compostee I just love all reptiles, slow worms are good at eating slugs and woodlice.

 

Many years ago where we used to live we used to have one of thos slatted compost bins in the garden,which was filling up nicely.I had been cutting the grass,so took the grass box down to the bin.I took the lid of and emptied the clippings into the bin.I put my hand in and started spreading the grass across the bin to distribute it...

I felt something sting my hand and quickly pulled my hand out.On the piece of skin below my thumb was two marks,like puncture wounds.I rushed up the house to show Mr Kandy and said if I didn't know any better I had been bitten by a snake.He told me not to be so daft,and that it was a Nettle sting.I went off and applied TCP and a plaster to it.It was painful for quite a few days...

A week later,I went out and cut the grass again,and took my grass box down to the compost heap.This time I took hold of the lid and pulled it straight off.I let out a bit of a scream,although I don't mind snakes the shock of seeing one made me scream out,at what we found out later to be a Grass Snake.I don't know which one of us was more shocked,me or the snake.I threw the lid back on and rushed to tell Mr Kandy.

He came down the garden and pulled back the lid.We were just in time to see it slither over the top of the bin and through a hole in the fence into our neighbours garden.Now he had to believe me...

I relayed the story to my mum and she found out later on from my description that it was a grass snake and was using the compost bin as a nesting site,although we never found any eggs or her ever again...

To this day whenever I go to empty our grass box into the compost bin and to spread it about I have always made sure I wear thick gardening gloves.Once bitten as they say,and I still like snakes and would love to see a slow worm or have one in the garden

 

Found a grass snake in our composting straw from the hen run this evening:



and



I'll carefully check that corner tomorrow and 're-home' any white, leathery eggs found (like I had to do last year). I put squares of corrugated iron sheet down in the grassy areas amongst my apple trees to encourage them, but it's always a bit of a conflict when they want to take over my best compost heap.