Really small compost bin?

[NoCommentingFromNowOn]

Hi, I’m a beginner with anything garden related.

If I wanted a small compost bin for food scraps, a bit of grass and the odd bit of hedge, where can I get one? Would it work, or are they always big because you need the volume to get the heat/whatever to work properly?

You need a big one for the heat.
By food scraps do you mean fruit and veg peelings ?
you should never add meat or other protein food waste to a compost heap as it attracts rats, and won’t compost properly

Interesting question. I have the world's smallest garden (9' x 12') and have given up with the idea of composting.

If it helps, I then investigated wormeries but they were no good for me as they need to be drained twice a week. If you've got good friends/neighbours this might work?

@redfishcat yes, im vegetarian anyway so fruit, veg, maybe tea leaves, that kind of thing.

@CrystalSingerFan a wormery? Drained of what? Juice? Could I just pour it on the grass or in the hedge?

Some councils offer a discounted rate for compost bins, wormery and/or water butts, so check your one and compare to what you can get online or at say B&Q/The range. For small volumes, you can also just dig a hole and bury in your garden. The worms will soon compost it for you.

I have just re-started a wormery. They can't have citrus/garlic/onions but most other peelings and tea bags are fine. Not sure about grass, but I assume they can eat some. If you are a large family, they won't eat it all quick enough though. They produce worm casts (poo) and also liquid fertiliser, both of which are very nutritious to plants. When I previously had one, I'd be lucky to empty the liquid once a month. If they are eating lots of water rich food such as lettuce/melons then they make a little bit more, but I wonder if rain water was getting into the poster aboves kit? I've never had to drain it weekly, let alone twice a week.

@NoCommentingFromNowOn asked "@CrystalSingerFan a wormery? Drained of what? Juice? Could I just pour it on the grass or in the hedge?"

Good questions. Online articles call it liquid or leachate. Maybe best not to enquire further. Apparently, though: "The liquid drained from wormeries can be used as a liquid fertilizer on garden plants after diluting with water at a rate of 1 part liquid to 10 parts water. Its nutrient composition will vary."

My problem is more that I'm retired and travel a fair bit. I don't want to leave an undrained wormery in my tiny garden. Who knows what might happen?

www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/worm-composting

Are you looking for something small because you have limited space in your garden for a compost bin? If so, I'd look to see if your council has green waste / compost pick ups rather than trying to do your own. There are smallish rotating compost bins that take up possibly a similar footfall to either a wormery or a hotbin. Wormeries can get messy and you've then got to put the worm casings somewhere when you need to switch a level. A slim-sized hotbin would be my preference.

You could consider an in-ground wormery. You can plant it in the ground or out it in the middle of a raised bed and grow plants round it. No draining required.

https://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/products/in-ground-worm-farm-from-plastia-and-wiggly-wigglers-terracotta

Oh 😍 they look perfect, but sadly £65 is not happening ☹️.

I’m looking for small because I equate small with ‘cheaper’ but maybe that’s not correct. I looked at the company who have discounted bins for my council and the cheapest is £35 for this one.

https://getcomposting.com/products/blackwall-220-litre-black-compost-converter?variant=42339716333799

I already posted up thread, but another option is to look on freecycle or nextdoor.com for a free one. You can also put a 'wanted' advert on those sites, so if someone has one, they can let you know. I got one of mine like that locally.

At the moment we don’t have food pick ups but this is due to start either later this year or next year. And I take all my garden rubbish to the tip where it gets turned into compost for the council I think.

Let me tell you what level I am with gardening - the garden is grass and hedge, both unruly, a few inherited plants at the front, so maybe my idea of compost is a bit ‘wanting to make a soufflé before I’ve mastered tea and toast’? Having compost won’t actually make any difference to me, so maybe I’ll leave this idea for later and try to work with what I have first, taming the garden a bit and planting some plants and keeping them alive.

Thank you, I think your comment has focused me a bit! I’ll leave compost for when I know what I’m doing and the garden is a nice place to sit in!

Ohh I actually didn’t know people got rid of them, I thought it was a ‘keep until it’s destroyed by an act of god’ type purchase!

They don't need draining twice a week, I leave the drain open and put a watering can underneath it which then gets added to water to use on tomatoes and peppers.

I know! I was surprised to find one locally, the next street along! I have no idea if they were moving or why they got rid of it, but it looked almost new! Marketplace might be another option to look at. Spring time I saw them at asda and tesco, possibly aldi or lidl also but can't recall the cost.

Edited to say that I'm a gardening novice! I've read that they should be a mix of green/fresh waste but also dried/brown waste. Mine has been collecting for 2yrs now so we shove in leaves, food waste, grass clippings etc. We fill to the top but 2 weeks later its shrunk down, so we add more. I'm sure we are supposed to use the good stuff at the bottom, but I'm not sure when or how we get that out without the new stuff falling out. I 'think' you are supposed to have 2- use one and let it rot down and use whilst you use the other. Yet to do it though.

Composting isn't at all difficult or like "making a souffle", but it will eventually need to be put on something, a flower or vegetable bed usually. From the description you've given of your garden, you don't seem to have much area that would take compost (apart from the bushes and some plant pots). I've had lots of different composting mechanisms and have a medium sized back garden and larger front where I have flower beds and several different fruit and vegetable beds and trees. Although we're only a two-person household, we end up emptying our large hotbin several times a year. It's not always at times when we want to use the compost, so we bag it up and wait until the autumn or spring to use it. But this requires us to have a space to keep these still-composting bags for several months. I think you need to think about where you'd site the compost bin and how you'd end up using (or storing) it once made before getting one.

You don't need to spend loads of money on any compost bin. If all you want is somewhere to put food scraps and grass cuttings and hedge cuttings, buy a pair of secateurs and cut hedge trimmings down a little and just chuck them under the hedge, same with mowings, chuck them under the hedge as a mulch. For a cheap compost bin you can use an old largeish plant pot with a saucer or old plate over the top, dig a little hole to half the depth of the plant pot, put all your food waste in there with any dry paper waste like kitchen roll etc, and just pile it into the plant pot and put the plate over the top. The worms will come in the bottom hole and act like a mini wormery. Even better, put the plant pot behind something that needs nutrition eg roses or tomatoes and it will feed as it goes. If you peel spuds in a bowl, chuck all the bowl contents and peelings in and it will water your plants nearby too as it drains out. I use this method all over my veg and herb beds using old plant pots that I got on marketplace. I also use old strawberry pots for this as well.

Wow that's really helpful. I'll rethink my decision.

Can you recommend any particular brands?

Honestly, any you can get your hands on. I prefer the original round one as I got one off freecycle years ago. The main thing is to not site them in full sun, the shadiest place in the garden is the best.

You can make your own!

If you like the concept there's lots of different ideas on the net. Some people use chicken wire tied into a cylinder, or buckets with holes in, all sorts...

I have 3 tumblers that I run through the wormery to finish them off, then everything goes into an old wheelie bin to sit til spring. I also have my old water tank which I layer up with cardboard and leaves and all sorts when I sieve any compost which basically becomes a huge wormery which is used in spring for potting compost.

I love this- such usable advice for OP!

I'm a wormery obsessive- no leachate created through running a stacking wormery in the way that 'Vermicomposting Learn By Doing' does on YouTube. However, stacking wormeries cost £100ish and although you can use any container, all wormeries do require regular attention. I think ShedMistress is on the money with simple ideas to start with so you can, as you say OP, focus on getting to grips with the garden itself for now.

What type of hedge is it? If it's a conifer hedge, or something with waxy leaves like holly or laurel, don't even contemplate composting the clippings.

I've found my tribe 😀

I have two pallet style compost bins, which I'm thinking of upgrading, a round staged wormery, an in-bed wormery and a green dalek. I also have various piles of stuff round the place. As you say, if you have worms you will get compost!