Siting of compost bins

I'm still contemplating making compost - been somewhat busy with other stuff, so not actually done anything about it. Anyways, hoping to get organized in new year. Would compost bins be ok in deep shade? I don't have anywhere else I could put them without them being on view and possibly smelling.

 

They would be ok in deep shade. However, the pay-off would be: it would take longer to break down
In *your* particular circumstances (e.g. rabbits/hogs) the soiled bedding would create the "warmth" needed for breaking down the compost. Nonetheless, it would still take longer; but never a wasted effort!
I've yet to achieve the "nice, crumbly compost" after one year that advocates promote; and, that is with a bin in sun for most of the summer plus being fed with coop wastage! It does get there ... eventually; just not as soon as some of the "experts" promote.

Do give it a go! If deep shade is all you have, then that should not put you off. Just know it won't be "ready" in the short term

 

Mine is in slight shade, so I've glued Bubble Wrap around my bin.........Not sure if it helps though!

 

I did some reading on compost making and thought bins would be the easiest option based on that. I would prefer a heap as more beneficial to wildlife but read that heaps and compost crates need turning every week and covering with tarp to prevent them getting too wet. Also read about the smell. Perhaps I read too much . I always have bags of used hay ( currently producing two bags a day at moment due to the extra hedgehogs ).

@shiney Could I use ash from the wood burner? I burn a mixture of birch,ash, soft woods, wood pellets from the rats litter trays and eco logs. The tray needs emptying daily and at the moment I'm just throwing it away. Could I put all the ash onto a compost heap or just some of it ?

@ARMANDII When you say no foodstuffs does this include veg peelings? I know not to add potato peelings. And what about gone over fruit? Don't have much fruit waste admittedly but do have stuff like satsuma or banana skins and occasional cooking apple peelings.

 

I have been composting for 37 years and think I have now got it right after all this time

@luciusmaximus when I first started composting all those years ago I used those green plastic slatted compost bins and still have one of them on the go even now so they last quiet well.I then tried the dalek sort but I found that because they are a bit on the small side,once the stuff rots downthey can get a bit awkward to take the flap at the front out and fork out the compost and lifting the whole thing off the compost was a bit of a struggle

When we moved to our current house and kept the allotment going we used internal doors that the builders were chucking in the skips when they got damaged on site.I asked the foreman explaining what we wanted them for and he said help yourself so after taking them to the lottie I got Mr Kandy to make a square by nailing them together and then would use another three nailed to the first bin.These last quiet a number of years until they rotted by which time I had the brainwave to use the tonne bags because talking to a friend he told me that once delivered they cannot be returned so after asking around our village I have managed to acquire quiet a few of them and they do hold quiet a lot of waste material

I compost everything even perennial weeds by chopping off the green part for composting and throwing away the roots.The only weed I don’t compost is bindweed because that is a terror for spreading by its roots.I also don’t compost wood,branches or rose prunings.These get burnt in my burning bins

I try to site my bins in a sunny position so that in the summer the waste rots down faster and if I have to put them in the shade I find that it takes a lot longer,anything up to a year.I also turn my bins at least every two months and by at least four months or six months it is nice and crumbly ready to go on my plots.Any large pieces still left by this time just gets put not a bucket and then tipped into my next bag.

I never put ash of any description in the bags as I feel personally a waste so I just rake my ash into the top of the soil and after doing this for all these years our ground has gone from solid clay to being nice and crumbly.

I also compost brown cardboard removing any sellotape/staples first and if the cardboard is thick I soak it in a bucket of water first.The worms love my cardboard and often when I come to separate the cardboard if it has stuck together in the bin it is full of baby worms

You can compost all fruit and veg peeling including spuds and in our greenhouse I have a date palm growing from when Mr K had dates last Xmas and the stones ended up in the compost bin.I don’t compost glossy magazines but any magazines I get that look like they are made of paper which will rot down ok I use them once I have removed the staples

I never ever composted dog or cat poo or cat litter as I used to worm my cats and didn’t want any health hazzards and Mr K said he wasn’t happy about cat litter going in the bins.I have even been known to stop my car while on the way to the allotment and scooping up horse poo from off of the road and putting that in for compositing before the cars squashed it into the tarmac...

 

Pizza is very easy to make, you can't really mess it up unless you overcook it

 

Thanks for all the replies re the composting . So, I've now made a pile of used piggy/bunny hay. Will it matter that the hay has a small amount of shredded newspaper in it, courtesy of Peppermint in beserker bunny mode . It's not much as I removed the larger pieces. I have a bag of veg peelings to add tomorrow

I did, awhile ago, make some piles of hay around the garden for the hedgehogs. They were not impressed . The Rats liked them until the hay got wet and then they moved into the hedgehogs houses. I also tried a pile of lawn cuttings but they seemed to rot very quickly.