Has anyone got a Greencone or Green Johanna?

[Habbibu]

I've just been looking into these and they sound very good - our council collects garden, but not kitchen waste, and I came across these when looking for a compost bin - they seem ideal as they'll break down cooked and uncooked food, as well as meat and fish. Does anyone know if they're as good as they sound?

[coastalmum]

We have a greencone at home, and the nursery where I work has a Greenjohanna.

I prefer the greencone as you don't have to empty it, just liquifies and seeps into the earth.

Which ever you buy they do need to be in quite a sunny spot or they don't decompose very quickly. Also one at work had to be moved as soil very clayey (is that a word?) and this seemed cause problems.

[coastalmum]

I couldn't be without my greencone now, the thought of having food waste in the rubbish bin now turns my stomach.

[Habbibu]

Ooh - thanks. Does it work well, then? Do you get exceptionally fertile soil all the way round the Greencone?

[wheresthehamster]

The greencone looks fantastic! Just what I've been looking for. I'm going to write to the council and see whether they could offer subsidies on them

[Habbibu]

x-post. Think I may be sold on this. I've been really lazy, but have decided today (spurred by change to fortnightly waste collections) to get off my arse. Greencone it is.

[Madlentileater]

what you need is chickens!

[coastalmum]

The plants around our greencone are growing much faster than dh thought they would and the area of lawn near the cone is much greener than the rest.

The green johanna at nursery is positioned at the top of a slight slope in the veg patch, and we get really good yield of veg.

[Habbibu]

wheresthehamster - if you click here it will tell you whether your local authority offers discounts. Apparently Nottinghamshire are selling them for £10!

[wheresthehamster]

Do you get flies or ants hanging around when the food first goes in?

[Habbibu]

Madlentil - yes, but given I'm so lazy have only just got round to this, I wouldn't like the poor creatures' chances...

[wheresthehamster]

Thanks for the link. Hertfordshire are not offering discounts unfortunately.

[madamy]

What a fab idea - dh very excited as is compost mad lol!

Habbibu - where did you find the £10 one? I'm in Notts and all that's coming up is £49 for greencone and £74 for green johanna.

[Habbibu]

Hamster: Will the Green Cone attract flies?
The Green Cone is a sealed unit and when properly installed emits no smells. It does not therefore attract flies. However, the eggs of fruit flies are already in the skins of many fruits and can hatch out in the Green Cone. Similarly, if food or food waste is not kept covered prior to going into the Green Cone, eggs may be laid by a house fly/blue bottle. These would also produce maggots and flies in the Green Cone. Good housekeeping is therefore important. Should flies become a nuisance they can be eradicated by using an air borne fly killer (given the enclosed space inside the Cone a little squirt kills the flies very quickly), which will not kill the bacteria. An organic product called "Flyko - fly and wasp killer" made by Agralan is recommended. This can also be obtained directly from Green Cone Ltd using the freephone number 0800 731 2572. Under no circumstances use liquid fly killer inside the cone

[Habbibu]

Madamy - here

[Habbibu]

Ah - looks like it's Notts county, not City. How confusing

[coastalmum]

Yes flies in the cone can be bad, but that are certain methods to minimise the number, can't remember what they were but you get info sheet when you buy the cone.

Never had probs with flies outside of cone.

I always make DH emptied scrap bucket, so don't know how our fly situation is at mo.

[madamy]

wow - thanks very much!

[wheresthehamster]

Thanks for the fly info.

Have emailed Herts recycling dept about the product.

[blueshoes]

A compost neophyte here.

What is the advantage of a greencone/Green Johanna over a normal (is there such a thing?) composter and what if I wanted to be able to collect compost/liquid for eg my window box plants.

[coastalmum]

you can put cooked and uncooked food in it.

[Habbibu]

blueshoes, you can also put meat, fish, bread etc in, which you can't do with a normal composter - as well as cooked food, as coastalmum says. The green Johanna gives you compost. I think a wormery gives you good liquid feed, and a bokashi bin gives a sort of fermented mix which breaks down well in the ground. Haven't tried these, so have no idea.

[blueshoes]

thanks for that, Habbibu and coastalmum. Reading your earlier post, coastal, is the Greencone different from the Green Johanna in that the former produces liquid feed and the latter compost?

[Habbibu]

Hurray! Have just ordered my Greencone. I am surprisingly excited about this. blueshoes, as I understand it, the Green Johanna gives compost, but the Greencone just leaks liquid into the ground, so you don't get feed you can use elsewhere, just very fertile soil around it. I'm hoping we can put ours where we plan to plant veg - just need to work out where the sunniest spot in the garden is.

[Habbibu]

coastalmum - meant to say thanks very much for the quick and helpful responses.

[Greyhaireddad]

Bit late for a clarification, but the difference between the Green Cone and the Green Johanna is as follows:
The Green Cone is a food waste digester. It is not a composter and you should not put garden waste into it. It takes the waste food from your kitchen and reduces it. It can go years without emptying, but at most you should not need to empty it more than once a year.
The Green Johanna is a traditional compost bin. You can add kitchen waste and garden waste (and you should do this in layers). It comes with a mixing stick (remember the fiddle stick anyone?). It has a base (with holes for worms to get in) to prevent rats getting in.
The Green Cone needs positioning in the sun. The green Johanna needs to be in the shade.
The subsidies from WRAP to the Councils will probably end in September 2009 so if you get a good price from your council take it now. Otherwise you will end up paying full price from the likes of My Greener Home. www.mygreenerhome.co.uk