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Original poster

composting - the basics?

55 replies

bossykate · 14/11/2002 13:46

i'm very keen to reduce our household waste at the moment and am interested in trying composting as a means of achieving this. our local council does special offers on equipment.

i'm hoping someone can give me some basic hints/tips/pros/cons etc. e.g. iirc, you need to have a minimum volume of organic waste during a given period in order to do it. is this right? and if so how much?

i would be grateful for any info.

thanks for your help.

OP posts:
Jaybee · 14/11/2002 14:45

There was a recent article in the BBC gardener's World mag so I had a quick look on the BBC website and found this - it looks fairly basic stuff so I hope I am not insulting you!!
Our area has recently introduced a twin wheelie bin scheme (black for usual waste and green for compostable waste) - this means that the normal bin is now only collected two-weekly. We also have a recycling collection for paper/glass/plastic/cans/textiles. I have to say I am amazed at how much you can cut down on your rubbish by putting in a little bit of effort.

Bozza · 14/11/2002 14:52

We have that too jaybee but unfortunately the green bin is only collected monthly (black one still weekly) and it is usually packed full by week two.

SueDonim · 14/11/2002 15:26

Have a look at the Wiggly Wigglers website, lots of info there. I had to 'liberate' all my worms into the garden before we moved as I knew DS couldn't cope with them.

Enid · 14/11/2002 16:40

This is what I recycle:
veg peelings, some fruit (all UNcooked), eggshells, teabags, garden waste - all in composter

Cardboard - to dd1's nursery (and we usually get it back in the form of ships, houses etc)

tins, plastic milk/detergent bottles, glass, newspaper, clothes, aluminium foil - all go to the local recycling centre, check your local council website for details of your nearest one.

Try to buy fruit and veg with minimal or no packaging.

You can buy a composter specifically for cooked foods that breaks it down into a harmless liquid that soaks away.

The wormeries are good if you have lots of food waste but not much garden waste, otherwise a traditional one is simpler. You can make one yourself if you are handy, just a wooden slatted box with a bit of carpet for a lid (that's what we have and it is very efficient).

Bozza · 14/11/2002 17:04

Enid can you explain further. What is the issue regarding cooked food? Also is there a problem if too great a proportion is grass cuttings?

forest · 14/11/2002 18:23

If you put cooked food into your compost heap it can attract rats so it is advised not to compost it. I have a dog that eats any leftovers - very handy!!

janh · 14/11/2002 20:08

We do more or less what Enid does except that our cardboard goes for immediate recycling too, cutting out the middleman of nursery creations. Our council picks up paper for recycling fortnightly.

I have a small kitchen compost bin from Lakeland with a carbon filter so it doesn't smell bad - we used to have a plastic bag in a bucket and that smelled TERRIBLE! When that is full it goes into a tall green plastic composter from the council, it doesn't work too well because we only have a concrete backyard and it is in the shade most of the time, but it does have lots of worms in it (whenever I find one I lob it in) so we do eventually get nice compost out of the bottom. Mind you it is also full of a variety of flies in the summer - lift the lid and stand well back! We get grass cuttings occasionally from MIL who has proper lawns. (Bozza, too much grass makes too much nitrogen or methane or something, if you do put it in it should be well-rotted (we keep ours in bags for a bit) and not too much.)

You can buy bottles of bio compost accelerator, you put about 10mls into a watering can (9 litres?) and pour it on, that helps too. You also need to fork it over and mix it in occasionally. HTH!

We usually manage to only fill one small bin for the weekly dustbin collection and there are 5/6 of us, our neighbours have smaller households and much more rubbish so we are doing quite well. (I wish we had a utility room or back porch though, our collections of recyclables tend to accumulate next to front and back doors...)

helenmc · 14/11/2002 22:00

All sorts of bits & pieces go on our heap- the odd newspapaer shredded, anything wool or cotton. We have a carpet on top to keep the heat in and too much rain out. You might have to give it a water if it gets really hot and dry in the summer (ever hopeful!!) You need a good mix and the problem with grass clippings is they consolidate - not enough air. Apparently urine is a good activator !!! and human hair (clippings from the hairdresser takes forever and forever to compost).

janh · 14/11/2002 22:09

Oh, urine - forgot - Gardeners' World came from Westminster last week and one of the MPs brought up the issue of peeing on the compost heap - works wonders, apprently!

musica · 14/11/2002 22:44

"Alan Titchmarsh - Complete Rot" - works fantastically - I've been using it, and the stuff that came out the bottom of the bin was light, crumbly, beautiful organic matter! Can't recommend it enough!

bloss · 15/11/2002 03:57

Message withdrawn

bloss · 15/11/2002 04:08

Message withdrawn

soothepoo · 15/11/2002 10:15

Bloss, how much do you have to feed the worms? What do you do when you go on holiday?

Snugs · 15/11/2002 10:34

Highly recommend the book 'Backyard Composting' by John Roulae - if your council is running the same scheme as ours did you might find that they are offering the book and the bio-accelerator at discount rates as well.

We got our bin, book, and bio-liquid stuff last month - cost £10 for the lot.

whellid · 15/11/2002 10:45

Can recommend the small green bins from Lakeland as well JanH. Saves having to pop to the compost bin every day. When you put veg peelings / egg shells etc into a compost bin you're meant to make sure that they are buried in the centre to reduce the flies.
We got a Rotol composter through our council scheme, and between that, recycling and reusable nappies have really cut the amount of waste we generate down.

Rhubarb · 15/11/2002 14:37

Shove all your organic rubbish in a bin with a hole in the bottom, water it from time to time, add bits of paper and leave to mature for 6 months or so. Result is a lovely great big pile of compost - no extra cost involved!

Bozza · 19/11/2002 10:21

I'm planning on investing in one of the green plastic bins so this advice shoudl prove useful. Got to wait for the patio to be finished first though. Is it better to stand it on the soil than on a concrete base?

janh · 19/11/2002 10:49

Soil is better, so that the worms can come and go, but if the place you want to keep it is paved that still works (you'll have to feed worms to it though.)

Bozza · 19/11/2002 10:53

JanH I am thinking of putting it at the bottom of an area at the far side of our house - there is about two foot between the house and fence so a dead area really. It is currently laid with flags (but they are only laid over the soil not cemented down) and there is fence and soil beyond the fence so it sounds like the best thing would be to lift the last flag and place it there.

Not sure I've explained it that well - a two foot by 12 foot cul-de-sac with fence on two sides and house wall on one side.

janh · 19/11/2002 11:10

Bozza, that sounds ideal, two foot sounds a bit narrow though so check the bin will fit there.

Bozza · 19/11/2002 11:56

I think its maybe a bit wider than two foot - I will double check though because I would feel a bit daft if I got it wrong.

Original poster
bossykate · 24/11/2002 10:03

thanks very much to everyone for your replies. as we have a small patio garden, i think the wormery might be best for us, as proportionally, there will be far more kitchen waste than garden waste. thanks suedonim for the link to wigglywigglers. i like to think we might encourage a few more birds to the garden with the worms! will also check out exactly what the council are offering on deals on composting equipment.

our council runs a green box scheme and we are already using that for glass, paper and cans (it does pick up other things, but we don't seem to use them). we also give as much as we can to charity shops to avoid waste. we've also recently started getting organic veg box deliveries, and conveniently our local supermarket has just started a carrier bag recycling scheme. one of the disadvantages of internet shopping is that they pack it in about 4 times as many plastic carriers as one would use oneself, so don't feel so bad now that we are recycling them.

i also buy as many things as i can which have been made from recycled materials.

sorry if the above is sounding very "eco smug" - our household has lots of room for improvement in this area - composting being one of my next steps.

thanks again everyone for the advice.

OP posts:
Original poster
bossykate · 02/06/2003 19:14

hello everyone.

just wondering if anyone doing worm-assisted composting could reassure me?

we have a lot of flies atm (doesn't smell rotten, except for draining the worm pee - blech!) and no discernible worm activity...

any ideas?

thanks in advance

OP posts:
suedonim · 02/06/2003 19:25

We had flies with an ordinary composter but not the worm one. Have you tried emailing WigglyWigglers? I've done so a couple of times and they've replied within 24hrs.

janh · 02/06/2003 20:07

bk, we only have an ordinary composter and it attracts lots of flies when it's full of scrummy rotting stuff on top (remove lid and duck!) But if you put a layer of soil on top that sorts it out - I'm not sure how actual wormeries work, could you do that?

Not sure what your worms are up to though. When we first got our composter (it's dark green plastic, about 4 feet high) we used to lob in a worm whenever we found one, they have bred like rabbits apparently and we have millions now (sometimes when you swivel the lid to have a look they fly out at you...)