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Gardening

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Original poster

Composting ... can someone educate me please!

96 replies

Millie1 · 01/05/2010 21:49

I guess my first question is, do compost and rats go hand in hand? I'm going to get a compost bin (more on that in a moment!) for chicken droppings, bedding etc and don't intend composting food leftovers or anything like that. So, will rats be attracted to chicken poop (maybe I ought to post this in the chicken topic but reckon I'll get good advice from gardeners . Re Compost bins - is it best to buy one with or without a base? Or is there a choice? Anything else I should know? Thanks!

OP posts:
Romanarama · 02/05/2010 15:47

Does compost actually need a bin? Can you just make a heap?

I think coffee grounds are particularly good for attracting worms.

loulou77 · 02/05/2010 16:22

This is excellent...I am not chief compost manager here but shall let DH know about the newspaper layers and the wee (not sure what our neighbours will think as our compost bin is right next to our fence).

We have a few visiting mice but no rats (I hope) and we have stopped putting grass cuttings in because our bin is not big enough for everything to compost well if it's full of grass.

Am off to empty the kitchen caddy now!

loulou77 · 02/05/2010 16:23

PS our local sainsburys cafe will let you have their coffee grounds for compost...they have a printed sign so I assume it's a country wide thing

UnrequitedSkink · 02/05/2010 16:24

Can you put a compost bin in the shade or is it better in the sun? The only place I can think of to put one is behind the shed, which never gets any sunlight. Would really love one though.

shallishanti · 02/05/2010 17:05

I think it will be OK in the shade, but maybe composting will be slower. I have had bins dotted about in various places (though now they are all coralled in one area) never noticed any big difference shade or sun.
composting is ace, we never have any food stuff in the bin. Raw scraps>compost, cooked scraps>chickens. I'm afraid though that rats will always be a risk, esp if you have chickens too.

TracyK · 02/05/2010 18:11

I must show dh this thread - all he does is put grass cutings, grass cuttings and more grass cuttings in our bin!

UptoapointLordCopper · 02/05/2010 18:41

We basically used ours as bin - everything goes in except meat/bones. Maybe that's why it rots down quite slowly, but we only throw out one smallish bin bag a week, which I think is not too bad for a family of 4. Even so we have quite nice compost (after about 2 years!) with avocado seeds and bits of egg shells. We have two bins and fill them in turns.

seashore · 02/05/2010 20:02

TracyK grass cuttings only will turn to slush, you need a good mix of ingredients.

Millie1, hi, the bigger the bin the faster everything will compost, when you get into to you'll probably get another two going, for slower stuff and for turning your compost over into. I have three, and tbh I like our middle sized compost bins best because the huge one is too high for me to work comfortably with, it'll break down quicker if it's positioned in the sun, on a hot day lift the lid and you'll see smoke! I put chicken pellets into ours to help speed it up. Seaweed also does this, or the od sprinkling of seaweed fertilizer. If you put in cardboard it's best to dampen it first and shred it up but be careful not to build up a wet mess!

bramblebooks · 02/05/2010 20:24

I'm currently considering a third bin - I keep adding to my two but I'd rather keep topping up one and letting the other two rot down then empty them completely. I fill them quite fast as I keep chickens and grow veg.

Bleatblurt · 02/05/2010 20:28

Earthymama, thanks for the tip about contacting your local authority. I have just looked at my local council website and they don't do any schemes or vouchers anymore but they did link to another site that sells subsidised (by the Scottish government) compost bins.

So for anyone in Scotland after a compost bin check out www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk

I'm going to order one and am stupidly excited about starting.

Original poster
Millie1 · 02/05/2010 20:46

Thanks for that tip Seashore. What size of bin should I get? Is 330l enormous? Or should I go for 220l. Must go back to the website and see if there are measurements!

OP posts:
allbie · 02/05/2010 20:49

We have two...cooked and uncooked!!! I absolutely hate doing it. It smells horrific and I tend to wimp out and leave it to DH. The flying insects and worms leave me cold. DH very committed composter. I have to admit to not always following protocol which drives DH mad. I can't get excited about it at all. I would love chickens though.

zippy539 · 02/05/2010 21:00

Composting is the way to go but I am completely paranoid about rats (totally phobic in fact) and so don't have a compost bin. It's not big, clever, or rational but if I saw one rat in my garden I would NEVER go out there again.

Instead I use the bokashi system (crap at links but anyone interested can google it). I have two bokashi bins which I use in rotation. You stick the kitchen scraps in the bin then add the bran mix until the bin is full (the bin is closed so you can keep it in the kitchen/a cupboard so it's good for flat dwellers as well as rat phobics). Don't really understand the science but the mixture basically pickles then you dig into the ground - or in my case into pots/window boxes etc. You also have a wee tap on the bin so you can drain out 'compost juice' - it is brilliant as diluted plant feed and also seemingly very good for your drains. My pot grown veggies love it. And NO rats.

paisleyleaf · 02/05/2010 21:18

We've got a big compost bin in the garden. We've had it for almost 10 years and I've seen a rat there once.
I also love the bokashi for using up pasta, bread and everything ..... and for the free baby bio.

zippy539 · 02/05/2010 21:40

Actually that's a good point Paisley. There are loads of things that you can stick in the bokashi that you wouldn't put on a compost heap - so even those with a regular compost bin should consider it. (Esp if you are in an area with limited bin collections - it really reduces the size of your bin-bag!)

baiyu · 02/05/2010 22:02

I've been putting weeds in mine. Bad idea? Great thread, thank you.

ItNeverRainsBut · 02/05/2010 22:10

I think the problem with weeds is that their seeds get in there and will germinate...

On wee and compost - how much to add?

baiyu · 02/05/2010 22:53

Mmm, yes, as I thought. Though TBH I use mine to minimise waste more than anything else so not all that bothered. Will be moving house next year and start again, just love how light our wheelie bin is, if only you could compost plastic!

navyeyelasH · 03/05/2010 01:02

there was a compost bin in my garden when moved in; I figured it would be maggot and rodent infested as I've never done any composting before and assumed it was grim?

Shall I look at it tomorrow? Where is the safest place to look top/bottom? It hasn't been touched for about 10 months. I was going to ring the council/post it on freecycle and see if I could get it removed

mistlethrush · 03/05/2010 07:17

We put weeds on ours and have no problems - ours gets hot enough in the middle to kill the seeds. Compost bins should manage this with no problem.

Just grass clippings is hopeless - the compost heap in this garden had basically just had that - when I emptied it to use on the garden there were large layers that were still unusably and I had to remove them and put them back in the compost heap.

When our (non bin) heap is emptied I take the top off and put in the compost bin (moved from previous house) and do the same with anything else that needs a bit more composting and stick everything else on the raised veg bed...

Katymac · 03/05/2010 07:39

Navy - how do you get into it?

Is it an actual bin with a bottom - just tip it out

If it's a darlek with a hatch at the bottom - you might get some out by opening the hatch; you might manage to pull the bin off or you might need to tip it over

Mine has lovely opening doors at the bottom with a long 'peg' that holds them together until you want to open it

hillbilly · 03/05/2010 08:45

We only have one loo in our house so occasionally dd has to have a wee in the potty, in which case it goes straight into the compost bin

I love composting and reaped my first batch in the autumn which has gone into my new planting areas last month.

stickylittlefingers · 03/05/2010 10:31

hi - no rats in ours, but it's woodlouse city... Are they of any benefit to a compost bin or should I try and get rid (if so - how?). tia....

Romanarama · 03/05/2010 11:34

I'm confused now - is bokashi a substitute for a wormery, or is one better than the other? And can you empty the bokashi bucket into the compost heap once it's fermented a bit? TIA!

alicatte · 03/05/2010 12:05

DH has two compost bins now and has just used his first bit of compost - a proud day. There were no rats at all and the only bad smells came from the internal compost caddy. I negotiated an outside home for it. We found that the 'compostable' bags were not very compostable and we had to remove the remnants of them from the first useable compost. The cardboard had composted though.