Compost Bins - Grow Your Own Wants Your Advice!!

[Peter]

Birdie Wife, I beleive it is possible, but as an anti-rat procedure is not often done. Our local council were asking for vounteers recently to experiment on cooked/meat waste composting, so it must be possible.
In days gone by the midden heap contained everything (including dead bodies).
Have no personal experience (yet) though.

Rather puzzled by the direction this is taking on rats.

If you leave enough rat-attracting waste they will get to it wherever you put it.

The filty little things are slightly more than "rather good" at digging.

On a farm a few miles away from here there is a victorian grain store, it is metal, and stands on metal post legs two foot above ground. At the top of each leg is a large upside down metal bowl, intended to prevent rats climbing up the legs and gnawing their way in through the floor or sides. My mother had rats in her bungalow loft, they climbed up the gutter downpipe and gnawed a hole in the concrete roof tile.

[CarolineSonning]

Do you put meat waste in your bean trench too?

I know gardeners usually say don't compost cooked stuff because it doesn't have that many nutrients in it because it's cooked, but from a point of view of reducing household waste I'd be for it (and there must be some nutirents, because we eat it and do okay, right?!). And I saw on the news there is a community composting scheme somehwere that takes everyones dinner plate leftovers and composts the lot in hot heaps, so there must be something in it?

Am I being contrary? OR just wrong? Please let me know!

Birdie Wife, check this site out http://www.greencone.com/home.asp?lang=1, from a landfill stand point they look great - all kitchen waste including cooked foods and bones.
I managed to get one for £5 through one of their council promotions and was waiting for it to warm up a bit to set it up, but I'm really looking forward to not having a smelly bin in the kitchen any more .

[john.tate]

john.tate Compost bins. I have six old weely bins, no wheels, cracks, which i saved from scraping. I drilled half inch holes on four sides at different levels with a smaler hole center front, from this I collected liquid fertiliser, mix as you fill and you have an going production, mine have been on the go now for six years. try it for your self. wish you all good luck. j.tate

[Birdie Wife]

Birdie Wife, check this site out http://www.greencone.com/home.asp?lang=1, from a landfill stand point they look great - all kitchen waste including cooked foods and bones.
I managed to get one for £5 through one of their council promotions and was waiting for it to warm up a bit to set it up, but I'm really looking forward to not having a smelly bin in the kitchen any more .

Hi Caroline,

That looks just the business! I suspect I'll have to wait a while before they are available up here though

Re rats Peter, yes, I wasn't sure about that bit either - that's why I was asking if anyone had tried the method to see if it works or not! My memory's hazy about the exact method. Maybe if the compost pit was constructed with sturdy wooden/metal sides sunk into the ground and a good lid, it might deter the critters - they'd have to dig down a good metre in order to reach the bottom of the pit then, and I bet there's easier meals around. Just a thought

[pigletwillie]

Greed is Good

You can never have access to or make enough compost for the allotment or at home.

Each of my plots has three, metre cubed compost bins with a fourth for leaf mould. One bin is generally ready for use, one other being filled and the empty one available for turning into. I can never get enough compostable stuff to keep up with demand though.

The age old wisdom of not putting cooked or meat waste in a compost bin is done for a reason, not only does it attract rats which piss everywhere giving forth Weils disease but few people can get a hot enough compost bin that will destroy the botulisms and the like that rotting meat will produce. If you are throwing that much meat or cooked food away you should look seriously at your housekeeping or eating habbits. We do throw chicken carcasses away, after they are turned to bone by milking them for chicken stock but little else in the way of cooked food.

[Two_Sheds]

I've got lots of different compost bins: 2 big ones, made of corrugated metal, about 6 ft square each - no 'recipe' I just chuck in everything, don't cover it or turn it, or dig it out - I just plant it up as a raised bed. Beans this year. I also have a black cone, which is great - again, I don't dig it out, just lift it up and move it to a new site each year. The compost gets spread over just where it is, saves a lot of lugging around.
then I have 'weed pits' too, basically the same as a bean trench. I put shredded newspaper in them (guinea pig bedding) along with their excretions to activate it. I don't know if its all 'correct', but it seems to work for me.

[Two_Sheds]

Oh, for perennial weeds like couch, bindweed etc....I put these in a water butt to rot down into fertiliser. Stinks ruddy awful, so it must be good.

[Phill of Eastbourne]

I spent last weekend building a set of three bins. I used wood from an old shed - 3/4" x 6 x varying lengths. I used a brick to allow a 3" air gap (sides & back) and the base are 2 recycled internal doors.
The 2 internal sides I made removerable, so the pieces fit into posts which allow them to slide in & out. The air-gap is made by 3" nails knocked in about 1" so air can pass through and when I need to turn the compost into the next bin I'll be able to lift out the sides.
As the bins are so new, I'll have to wait to see the effectivenesss but I think the theory holds up!!!
The intention is to have 1 bin for new / current kitchen waste etc.: 1 for half formed & 1 for final / ready to use. When the current bin fills, all bins will be moved along one, with the ready now compost used on the allotment or bagged for use later.

[Sue]

I had great success using the compost bins for growing, grew pumpkins and cucumbers, just excavated a hole in the top, filled it with compost and put in my seedling. Some extra growing space if you don't want to use the bin contents immediately.

Sue

[dexterdoglancashire]

Compost Bin Ordering Line

For those of us who do not have the necessary DIY skills (although basic, I know, I don't have these skills!) you can always ring the Compost Bin Ordering Line (where else?!) on 0845 658 8550 where you can order your free bins. Delivery within 28 days (mine took 5 days!) well recommended. DDL

[buttercup]

hello!
i wouldnt want to put meat in my compost, mainly because of the hormones and chemicals they are fed or injected with!
i might just be squeemish but i wouldnt trust it to get rid of any diseases they may of had and that means i wouldnt want it anywhere near my veg.
cheers buttercup x x

[john.tate]

Hii butercup you have it wright, no cooked meat or fish should ever be added to a compost, it only attracks verem into your garden or plot. best wishes. john.tate

[Protea]

We have a selection of compost recepticals, all used to full capacity most of the time!

We have 2 plastic daleks at home in the garden, which take our flower bed green waste, kitchen waste, bits of paper, and the leftovers from my propagation efforts in the greenhouse (used compost/seedling thinnings etc).

For the kitchen waste we bought an Ems composter (Bokashi Empowered bins) :http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/shop...AEBBUQFE6B2C4D which take all our kitchen waste INCLUDING raw and cooked meat. It takes us ages to fill each one up even though we create lots of 'green' kitchen waste from veg peelings etc. they all squash down as they start to compost in the container. The only downside is you have to leave it when full for 2 weeks before adding to our garden compost bin and it does start to smell a bit (its not supposed to - i'm not sure why it does). It has cut down dramatically on our kitchen waste though - if only the non-recylabale packaging could be reduced!!

At the lottie we created 2 large boxes out of pallets Mr Protea 'aquired' from work and some a friend donated. With some thin posts and screws bought cheaply from the DIY store to secure them to the ground, they are open on one side and we cover them with some old lino flooring i rescued from a skip, to keep the rain off. Seems to be working fine so far although i could really do with a shredder to cut the weeds and bolted veg (read: triffids) into smaller pieces!!

Oh how i would love to have one of those ever so atractive wooden bins from the catalogues - but really, they are so expensive its definately worth building your own!

[blue-and-green]

I made my own compost heap before with 4 long pieces of wood, cut to V-shape at one side to hammer int ground in a square, then chicken wire around it, could cover it with black sheet that prevents weed growth, to keep it moist and warm, sow wildflower seeds around it and it looks natural and great, i dont particularly like the look of a big black plastic compost bins, although getting one of those soon. I dont like the idea of meat,fish and dairy in my compost bins, so i dont, but lots of used teabags, shredded paper, vegetable peelings and other food goes in. And i shall try urine too after reading grapevine.

[Snadger]

We have a compost bin for waste meat...it's called a dog!