Talk to me about compost- please?

[MsF1t]

Hello!

I got an allotment fairly recently and have spent several months just removing carpet and God knows what else from it. Finally I'm starting to get to grips with actually growing some stuff.

However, what I need is some sort of idiot's guide to composting. I have two compost enclosures which I built with pallets, and a Dalek, and also recently obtained a homemade tumbler. I am not sure what should go in where, in what order. I inherited a certain amount of compost (although the plot had been extremely neglected).

I've been bringing in food waste from home and sticking it in the tumbler as rats/wildlife can't get into it. On the site I have clippings, pulled up weeds, and twigs and branches from fruit trees that I cut back in the winter. Also a lot of grassy bits of turf from digging up overgrown areas.

I'd be very grateful for any wisdom you can share- but failing that, links to simple guides would do. (I do have a couple of books, but they don't go into much detail on this...)

Thanks.

It's probably not the best time of year to be gathering stuff to put in compost. I find autumn when I'm cutting down spent flowers, pulling up spent brussel sprout stalks etc is the time they are at their fullest.

When I was starting up I got clippings from my in laws garden and grass cuttings from them to build up a heap about half the size of the the pallet to get a bit of steam going.

I never took kitchen waste up to the plot - coz of rats really. But sometimes did take it up to dig a bean trench - which is a good way of using it. I've got a hotbin at home that I was given as a present where I put the kitchen waste usually.

I have a pallet enclosure that I fill up through the year, with garden clippings, mix in grass clippings, spent compost from pots, bit of cut up comfrey, and some manure every now and then (there's a lot available for free on the plot). When I think on I turn it over - the easiest way of doing that is to turf it into an empty pallet bin.

ONce it starts to cook I just leave it be. Now, 10 years on - I can easily fill the compost bins - I just leave them to it really - and they produce compost after about 18 months. It would be quicker if I turned it more often.

Thank you, @BarkingUpTheWrongRoseBush - that's really interesting. I'll see if I can get hold of some grass cuttings etc for the now empty compost section.

If you are using grass cuttings - they need mixed in well with other woodier stuff, or shredded paper or cardboard. On their own they just turn into a stinky heap.

Give it time and you'll get good compost.

Give it time and you'll get good compost.
It's all about time. isn't it. Give any stuff long enough and it will rot down to nice compost. You're supposed to do clever stuff (right temperature, right mix of ingredients, turn it) but time on its own can be enough.
You've got three big bins: I put stuff* in No1 until it's full then leave it. Ditto No2. Ditto No3. By the time No3 is full, No1 is usually ready for 'harvesting'. It's not the proper way but it works for me.

• You can help by adding some soil or compost which will import all sorts of good bacteria and creepy-crawlies to give a kick-start.

Here's Monty's video.

senua is right. I have three heaps, at any one time two are filling/maturing. So A is mainly maturing but filling if B is a bit full, B is filling, and I’m emptying C. When C is empty, I put any unrotted stuff from A into it, and it becomes my filling heap, while A is my using heap and B becomes the maturing/overflow heap.

I put garden waste, kitchen waste and cardboard, cotton or wool fabrics on it. I’ve not had a rat problem but have 3 cats of my own and another 6 visiting.

If any layer is getting too thick, I quickly grab something else to add. So if I’ve already added 6inches of lawn cuttings, I’ll grab a couple of armfuls of weeds, or shovel on a layer of soil, before adding the rest. But it’s not an exact science. I’m now using my compost in pots and for seed raising - a necessity when shielding last year which didn’t do my plants any harm, so I’m continuing it now

The wriggly things that turn your waste into compost are a bit like us: they need food to eat and air to breathe.
It is easy to do the 'food' bit but forget the 'air' bit. That's what turning the compost is about - getting fresh air into the pile. I used to do too much of the greens and not enough of the browns (carbon) but I make more of an effort now and include paper and card. I have a home-office shredder and it is minimal effort to put all sorts through it - junk mail, envelopes, newspaper, loo-roll-centres, etc. The shredding has a double effect: (1) it makes the bits smaller and therefore easier to chew and (2) it makes everything bulkier so there is more air trapped.

Thanks everyone, this is all really useful! I must admit, I struggle a bit with the 'browns', and have been rubbish about the air as mentioned by senua. The Monty video was a good watch, too. Nice and simple- and there was another one on there by another guy talking about different types of composters which was really helpful as well...

Browns can be quickly added by paper and card. But if it's an allotment heap, so mainly weeds and post-harvest vegetables, you'll probably get enough browns with all the stems.

I don't turn mine. The active layer has worms that you can scoop out in handfuls like live spaghetti. Turning may be more important in a heap which doesn't have permeable sides, and which is more densely packed.

I suppose the answer is to see how it goes without turning, and if it's not working, then turning might be one of the things worth doing.

Yeah, I lined the sides of the pallets with plumbing liner, and sat them on some paving stones, thinking it would be longer-lasting and more tidy that way. Maybe I can add some air tubes to the side walls or something to improve airflow.. hmm. Good to know about the stems, I didn't realise they would count as brown. Thanks!

I found this article from the Middle Sized garden quite helpful in that it outlines the basics and is easy to understand: www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/do-you-want-easy-compost-or-fast-compost/

I generally really like her site, it has loads of good info and is pretty accessible.