I am about this far <holds up thumb and finger> from giving up composting altogether

[Cappuccino]

I am so bloody sick of it

I am sick of mouldy teabags

and a corner of my garden that is always full of flies and woodlice

and yesterday I found that my indoor kitchen compost caddy had maggots in it [not a strong enough emoticon available]

plus the fact that I have been shovelling stuff into the thing for at least 2 years and the stuff at the bottom is still recognisable and NOT COMPOST AT ALL

I can put garden waste out for the council compost collection

tell me, how much damage can one family's carrot tops and shredded bank statements do to the planet?

[moondog]

Yo umay need more paper. Also shift it around a bit to let air in.
Are you not washing yer indoor caddy?
(Slattern)

[Pruners]

Message withdrawn

[BreeVanderCampLGJ]

You can buy compost accelerator.

[Cappuccino]

yes moony I bloody am

but there are so many things to wash and I am still a bit ill

[self-pity]

and it does seem to be an area of taking-the-rubbish-out - which in my book is a Blue job, not a Pink one - that I can't seem to make dh do

[Slouchy]

We don't use in indoor one for exactly that reason , just a bowl which we empty and wash out daily.

[missingtheaction]

you weren't actually expecting to ever use it on the garden were you???

bokashi for kitchen stuff. or move to Richmond/Kew where they collect kitchen waste.

turning the heap is the best thing - but you need a slave for that

[SoupDragon]

I use compostable nappy sacks in my indoor compost caddy. Makes the whole job far more agreeable!

[Cappuccino]

missing I don't think I can ever see a time that that will happen

we lived in the last place 5 years and I don't think we ever did

this is just middle-class ethical garden guilt

[Cappuccino]

yes I have the nappy sacks (well, they're real bag things)

it's just another job isn't it

put the recycling out

tidy kitchen

sweep floor

tramp up garden with coffee grounds and bits of onion

make packed lunches

have sex

[Nappyzoneneedssleep]

Pouring man wee on it apparently accelarated it and keeps rats away....

[Cappuccino]

yes malory that's my bin

but with flies and no compost

just mouldering stuff

[SoupDragon]

Mine was full of nice compost when I moved it earlier this year. Must have been in there about, er, 3 years?

[MummyDoIt]

I've got the same problem, Cappucinno. It's not particularly mouldy but it certainly doesn't resemble lovely brown compost and it's been on the go for almost two years. My question is, how are you supposed to turn it to get air in yet keep the old stuff on the bottom? I use a garden fork and prod it about but that just mixes the new stuff into the bottom so I never get a layer of pure compost down there.

[BreeVanderCampLGJ]

LGJ takes Cappo by the hand and sits her down with a nice coffee.

[Cappuccino]

[Cappuccino]

oh yes to prodding

while spitting out flies

and thinking "what am I doing this for?"

[Cappuccino]

oooh LGJ is that chocolate cake in the background?

[BreeVanderCampLGJ]

LGJ realises situation is critical and administers chocolate and cream cake.

[BreeVanderCampLGJ]

How spooky, I had just gone off to ggogle.

[hatwoman]

pruners I've long wanted to find someone who uses bokashi - is it as good as they claim? could I use it before putting stuff into my wormery to accelerate the whole thing (and possibly improve the wormery compost which is, tbh, shite. both literally and metaphorically)

[hatwoman]

cappucino - you;re not putting anything meaty in it are you? I thought flies only laid eggs on meat? not 100 per cent sure but reasonably so - you shouldn;t get flies/maggots on purely veg stuff.