Composting ... can someone educate me please!

[Millie1]

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!

Am I too naiive in thinking that compost should be weed-free? Our is grass cuttings and paper shredding go in, but the compost that comes out can't be used for mulching because grass keeps germinating...

mistlethrush I'm a bit [eek] at you putting the weed seeds in your compost heap. We have such a problem with them that I really wouldn't. I don't think it is worth the risk of them not getting hot enough. So we put the leafy bit in but not the seed heads. We have had rougue squashes, courgettes and cucumber seeds germinating in trays of our compost.

navyeyelash give it a go it could be beautiful stuff if it has been there a while. Poke a trowel or spade in the top.

Millie1 the size depends on how much space you have and how much stuff you have to compost. It is better to get two smaller ones rather than one large one as you can be filling one while the other (full one) is rotting down.

Stickylittlefingers what do you mean is there a benefit? You compost your waste instead of it going to land fill and you get free fertiliser for your garden. If you mean a benefit over a bokashi bin or wormery - then there is if you have lots of garden waste.

Millie1, I can't remember what size ours measure up to, I would just make sure you will be able to reach in well enough to jab your airater stick in, so maybe go for the smaller one, I know the one we have that is almost my height is just too big for me but I still manage with it.

I remember Monty Don getting very excited about those rotating bins mentioned above here, it must be so handy that anything can go in but they seem to need a lot of space and you would miss out on a lot of fun, also I have never found a bad smell from our compost, it usually just smells quite sweet, I suppose it depends on what's gone into it, ours always has plenty of seaweed so that's it's scent.

The only other things about size is that it's said the bigger the pile the quicker it will rot down but that depends on how quickly you can fill it so I think the smaller size would be best. Good luck.

I love composting, not had rats. if your heap gets hot enough, weed seeds will be killed, and grass clippings do heat up well.Apparently mens wee is better than womens wee as an activator, something to do with hormones.

I started towards the end of last summer but it all seems too wet in there!

I have one of the black plastic compost bins (blackwall?)sited in a sunny spot.

Do you reckon the cold winter would have made a difference? I'm wondering if all my scraps were preserved all winter by the snow/ice etc instead of breaking down.

When I open the hatch at the bottom it's just a sludgy mess. I suppose it's been going for about 9 / 10 months or so.

Winter does slow things down a bit. So i have had a similar slimey mess. My remedy is start a new heap and mix the old stuff in layers with news paper,leaves like comfrey and veg scraps etc. not forgetting the man wee, and start it off again.

Aerating stick? Okay, I must have missed that bit further back. Does it need stirred up every now and again?

Yep, with your bin you should also get a long plastic aerating stick, now and then you jab it in deep to the compost and twist, it's to get air in for all the zillions of baterica, worms etc to breathe as they do their work, it's a good workout also and speeds the whole composting process up. It stops things going slimy and slow.

But watch you don't jab the slow worms. They love compost heaps.

We have several compost set ups. Monty Don is my hero!

We have one of those giant roatating compost bins - it was expensive but it makes the most amazing compost in a very short time.

We have 2 open composters that I built out of old pallets and 2 darlek bins.

The rotating one is the best, but I have had some lovely compost out of the others as well. I think the key is to aerate your compost and also put a mix of stuff into it - if it is too wet add woody stuff or paper.

I either dry out (in the sun for a week) or drown weeds (in an old bin for a few days) before composting them.

Bonzo - I think you skim read my post - I asked was there any benefit to woodlice (i.e. do they eat waste themselves) not was there any benefit to composting!

I think our weeds get a good heating up in the compost - mind you, it is about 5' square - so the middle will get quite hot and I generally put the edges and the top in for a second go - don't have any problem with weeds or grass.

Just signing on so I can check back and read this when I have more time.

No-one has answered my question and it is urgent! What should I put in the bin as the first layer? It is being built this week and I want to start filling it! Should it be food waste (peelings etc), cardboard/paper, garden waste?

Apparently there are rules, but we just chuck every allowable thing as and when they come. Takes about 1-2 year to rot down but hey, it works.

First layer - I don't think it really matters. I usually put in all the old fibrous, half composted lumps from the old bin and that works well. Therefore I would say probably something like twiggy waste, which lets a bit of air get underneath at least to start with.
We keep our chickens in an enclosure with the compost heaps, which has many advantages: they immediately eat any germinating weeds, you can put food scraps in because they quickly eat those too, they add extra fertilizer themselves and they scratch it all about and move it.
Great lazy composting!

Oops sticky yes - must have

Uptoapoint if it's taking 1-2 years then your heap isn't working its optimum. Unless you're happy that way I'd try aerating it and adding stuff to get the mix right.

IlanaK I second Racingsnake - twiggy stuff to let it aerate but not too much as thick twiggy stuf doesn't break down very fast.

millie1 this is the aerating stick. We didn't get one withour bin. It sort of mixed and aerates. If you don't want to do this you could empty the bin and then fill it again as this mixes it up (hubby does this when the bin is full as he moves the contents to the less accessable bin)

Bonzo - I know. I sometimes poke it with a stick, but basically too lazy ... Even bought compost accelerator but too lazy to chuck it in. Periodically even remember to shred some newspaper to chuck in. But even so we get enough compost for lazy gardening now that it's got going ...

But we so have slowworms.

We do have slow worms, I mean.

IlanaK, as said above start with twiggy stuff, don't worry about it's thickness, the more air the better and to prove that whenever you open your bin at the twiggy layer you will always find lots of super fat worms. Then scatter a mix of whatever is at hand, and if possible grab a chunk of someone elses compost to introduce lots of bacteria into yours, it helps get things started.

Romanarama - I think it depends on how much waste you have, My understanding is that the wormery gets through a relatively small amount of waste (with a high value product at the end of it) a bokashi bin gets through pretty much all your food waste (like a compost heap) but with the advantage that you can do it indoors and it doesn't appeal to rats. Not sure whether you can add the finished bokashi compost to the general compost heap - must investigate!

IlanaK I just had a look at your question earlier, be very careful with the railway sleepers, they were popular in the 9O's but if treated with that black tar like stuff (can't remember the name of it) there is a connection with I think it was skin cancers, I'm not sure, but something bad.

I remember because I used to really want to use them myself, then I can across that info somewhere and was glad I had never got round to it.

Maybe check with Gardener's World or a gardening site, but since they were considered dodgy I would think it unwise to use them for a compost heap as if they were treated with this stuff it will heat up and get on your skin and mix into the compost which you will probably use on a veg patch.

Sorry about long post and unspecific memory about them but I hope this is of some help to you.

This thread is making me feel very happy. I love the fact that someone has a mouse called Stig living in their heap, and I love the fact that someone else uses hand-knitted organic teabags.

Crikey, this is all good stuff to know!
I'm another one with a bin that takes a good couple of years to work - but I think it's partly that as all the waste gets chucked in to our black dalek bin it goes straight to the back - so when I open the hatch at the front I can only get to the new waste, not the good stuff {hmm}

But I think I've finally got my first batch that I can pull out and use! I'm very excited.
Will have to try aerating from now on though. And adding some child / lady wee. Man is unlikely to play ball if I request a potty-full