Just to answer a couple of queries:
We have two modular recycled plastic bins like these:
and one like this:
The top ones are brilliant for composting household waste into rich soil, and the bottom one not so good, so I use the bottom one for grass cuttings and bunny cage waste and take my rich compost for the garden from the top, while the produce from the bottom is mixed into the ground once rotted down.
I always have a plastic tub on my kitchen worktop, and the following go into it for the compost:
- teabags
- vegetable peelings
- onion skins
- small scraps of cotton thread or wool from sewing in ends
I also put shredded newspaper into all my compost bins, and (look away if squeamish now) if one of us wants a 'wee' when we are in the garden, then a small pot of fresh 'wee' is added to the compost bin too.
And a carrier bag taken to the seaside for the day brings back seaweed, which I tear up and bung into the pile.
Please ask me any questions and I will do my best to answer quickly.
FMx
We compost all our fruit, veg and garden waste. Anything big from the garden gets shredded first. I also put in cardboard and paper. The bins seem to be bottomless pits as the contents rot down and once a year the resulting compost mix is added to the veggie bed. We have 4 of your dome compost bins on the go - 3 in the back and one in the front garden. Not much goes into the council compost bin.
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum
xx
Oh thank you so much for this FM ....great to get some tips from the experts. I've ordered some seeds from Haddons already :0)
ReplyDeleteJacquie x
All good stuff FM, you could also put the not so great compost from the "Dalek" into the Komp bins to re compost ( see I can even recognise what they are! I am SO sad!)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment - my Komp bins do a much better job (twin walled so better insulated) than the Council standard Dalek bins but they all will produce good compost, eventually :-)
As a Master Composter I have a deep and abiding love of compost and am really pleased to see other bloggy friends composting their "waste" materials :-) A bit cheeky I know but if anyone is interested I also have some "How to" pages on my blog especially about composting, if anyone wants to know more, also links to composting websites.
Do the compost bins have to sit on the ground or is it Ok to be on concrete? This is really helpful.
ReplyDeleteBrenda in the Boro
www.cyclinginthesixthdecade.Wordpress.com
Mine are on paving slabs- the worms can get into the bottom it seems from anywhere, and this makes taking the compost out much easier.
DeleteI have a dalek one and feed it with all of the above except the seaweed! Takes three years!! But I filled my vegetable bed with soft dark rich crumbly compost last year! It sits half on soil and half on concrete!
ReplyDeleteOur council takes food waste inc cooked foods inc meats but I've got my cooking plans and leftover use to a fine art I only have to put it out once a month !
Nothing wrong with a bit of wee in the compost.
ReplyDeleteI had a Dalek and it was awful. It never worked as well as other methods.
Shredded newspaper is pretty good, but a lot of modern photocopy papers have plastic additives. I have a friend with a monster vegie patch and he uses a lot of paper in his monster composting heaps. He's got very selective about what shredded paper goes into the bins. His garden is incredible.
2 years ago was my first year with a garden and I was given a compost bin similar to your bottom photo, except it was a self-build in 3 tiers. And what a performance that was! You click it in on one side and out pops the other. Grrrrr! Took ages to build it but eventually I started to toss in veggy waste, shredded newspaper & cardboard, a few grass cuttings, soft prunings - and in between I was putting layers of compost enricher stuff (bought from Wilkinsons ) all the time following online instructions so it wouldn't be too wet or too dry . . .
ReplyDelete18 months later, I opened the hatch at the bottom and pulled out a handful of dryish compost followed by un-composted cuttings, prunings, veggie waste, etc., etc.
It's put me right off, I can tell you, and yet I hate putting teabags and veggie scrapings in the dustbin bag.
Maybe I should look on 'CompostWoman's educational blog? Can I have a link, please, so I can do better this year?
Oops! I don't need the link; I've clicked on CompostWoman's name and found her blog. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteI've filled a Dalek one and taken some out and pushed it down, so I'm filling it again. I have also a 'shopping bag' type with zip at top that mum gave me, unfortunately it has a huge lean that is difficult to correct.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you buy the ones in the first picture please?