my compost bin.........

[warmsummersday]

Hi. I have this awful compost bin in the garden that is full. My inlaws live next door and keep dumping huge pieces of things in there, eg fruit peeling, quarters of melon skin, they don' cut anything up, is this ok?

I need to get rid of some of it, how? Do I need to mix it all up? What else can I do to mix it all? Even at the bottom of the bin I can still see pieces of fruit.

Get some activator

Add some torn up newspaper

Stir it with a fork

Stuff like that is fine IMO

Mixing is good as it needs air. Smaller pieces break down quicker so best to chop it up. If small amounts are constantly added it can take up to year for it to all break down properly. Gardeners world or some web site like that are good for compost info.

If you are not going to use the resulting compost in the garden there is not alot a point in keeping it, especially if its a pain to you.

So can I just take some out of the bottom and dig it into the garden then?

I would also like to move it, is this possible?

Thanks

lurking -- I have had a bin for ages but never really done more than fill it.

Yes that's the same as me, never used it in the garden and it just annoys me!

Message withdrawn

Yes dig out the bottom but if you still have bits that you recognise them put them back in the top. I put alot of mine in the bottom of pots and cover it with prettier bought stuff

Moving it will do it good as it will mix it up well but might be messy. If its one of those plastic darlek(sp?)types you could just lift it off and ferry the pile to a new position

Yes that's a good idea. It's a plastic broken one. Just looked on the council website and they have cheap ones but not sure............

I could lift it off the pile and then spread it all over the garden bed that it is on top of and mix it in?

yep, thats what its for but just chuck/dig in deep any of the fresher stuff or you might encourage some small furry animals (not the band!)into your garden

OK thanks!!!

sorry, Dh just informed me that that the band was SUPER furry animals. DOH

I should stop trying to be funny

Although if the rats are flying around your garden and saving the world then your compost would be the last of your worries.