So I my composter has arrived with a free kitchen caddy.........

[Wallaroo]

......but what now? I know what I can and cannot put in it but where do I put it? It doesn't have a bottom so presumably I need to put it over soil? I am a composting virgin - call you tell?

Get some liners (biodegradable)

you can chuck
veggies
dead flowers
egg shells
tea bags
kitchen roll
fruit
and I'm sure someone far more green than me has some other ideas.

Hasn't got a bottom? Are you sure it hasn't been damaged in transit?

Otherwise, as mrsmaidamess says. Egg boxes are also good, as they stop the mix getting too wet. Don't bother with corn on the cob centres/stems/whatever you call them, as they take a zillion years to rot.

Are you asking what to do with composter or caddy? Caddy should have a bottom. Composter should have instructions, what sort is it? Some can take more stuff than others (green cone etc).

Ooopps! I thought the kitchen caddy was bottomless.

The [[http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/life/compostbasics/index.lasso?-session=shopper:4F493CA41b2682512D hSFEB9289C Wiggly Wigglers website] has information about composting.

The hSFEB9289C Wiggly Wigglers website has information about composting.

It's better not to be on concrete as it's beneficial if worms can get in, but if the only space you've got is on a hard surface it's certainly not a disaster.

Shredded paper also good for the composter. If you get Bokashi bins, you can compost all your food waste, inc meat, dairy, etc as well - and the real upside is that your landfill bin is never smelly

If you don't have it on a concrete base, rats can burrow in.

Yes, that's true too, although I've read that chicken wire (or, better still, the reinforced steel mesh from builders' yards) can prevent that. All the more reason not to put cooked food in.

Thanks for your advice. This is the one I have got but I didn't pay £50, just £10 from our county council ( plus free kitchen caddy).

Our compost bin just sits on the soil. No burrowing marks or tunnelling from vermin.

Ours is at the end of the garden under a tree.

Rats can get through tiny holes though.

Mine is at the end of my garden, just on soil. It has no cooked food in it. It has Unidentified Rodents.

Rabbit poo and chicken poo is fine to compost.

DONOT put is somewhere windy! When we first started with ours as it has no bottom it doesn't get weighed down and in the early days when there isn't much in it if it is in an area that catches the wind you will find it flying all over the place. We ended up drilling small holes through the plastic and tethering it down with tent pegs!

Oh good tip Comeoveneer! One question I do have is as this is a married quarter we are only going to be here for 3 years (ish) Can I take it with me?

I am sure you could take it with you. You'd need to empty it first - lovely organically-improved soil will be a nice present for whoever has the house next - but you may need to throw the half-composted stuff away in your council's green waste bin (assuming you have one).

Moving a full compost bin would, I think, be a non-starter but perhaps some brave MNer has tried it .....