Composting for a novice

[LaDiDaDi]

What can I put in my compost bin?

Only garden waste and left over fruit and veg?

Bread?

Yoghurt?

HELP!

[shouldbeworking]

I've just bought a compost bin recently. Here's what leaflet says:-
Vegetable and fruit peelings (although my dad says worms don't like citrus so leave them out)
weeds but not bindweed,couch grass or buttercups as they will keep growing in compost
Grass cuttings.. mix them in
Hair
Paper and soft card such as eggboxes.. in small amounts and should be shredded
Leaves
Animal manure from vegetarian pets...rabbits guinea pigs etc.
Tea bags
Egg shells
Straw and hay ...chopped up

Hope this helps

[LaDiDaDi]

Thankyou!

[missingtheaction]

basically you can put in anything that will rot down BUT you want to make sure it doesn't attract rats! so no cooked food (except veg) - they will come after bread, and don't even think abotu meat in a normal compost bin.

Nasty running weed roots like bindweed, if you have the stomach put them in a bucket of water next to the compost bin until they have rotted down then pour them on the bin, make a great activator

If you have men in the household get them to pee on the compost every so often

and the real key to making compost is to turn it - fill the bin, leave it a few weeks, then take it all out and put it back again.

[SheikYerbouti]

I have a tip - have a container in the kitchen and line it with newspaper - Then wrap all the waste up in the paper, sort of like a bag of chips (!) before you put it in the main bin. This will ensure that you have a good mix of green and brown stuff - v important

Also scrunch up some newspaper in there, you can also put the inner tube of a loo roll in ther, you can put tissue in there too.

Wee is v good. Probably need wee on it about once a week.
You can put coffee grounds in there too (if you drink real coffee)

Make sure veg waste is well chopped up, as it with break down quicker, and crush your egg shells.

And aware that when you empty the compost bin - IT HUMS! do it when your neighbours have their windows shut! I took some bags of compost to the allotment yesterday in the car. I had all of the windows open, but I was gagging

Be prepared for flies in there in the summer, and

[umberella]

.....

[SheikYerbouti]

I had nothing tyo add - I don;t know what happened there. I was probably distracted by a small person.

[policywonk]

My top tip: keep the waste (before you put it into the actual bin) in a container with a lid, otherwise your bin will end up full of fruit flies that swarm up at you every time you take off the lid