Compost advice

[Alice Johnson]

Hi everyone, what are your top tips for creating good quality compost? What do you add to the bin, do you use a fork to turn it and how long do you wait until you use it?

[Cadalot]

Cut up greens as much as possible in addition to grass cuttings (I get as many from family and friends as possible), shred cardboard loo rolls and junk mail and other paper for your browns, layer water, add coffee grounds and spent hops from the local brewery and add Liquid gold (Pee) and Comfrey as an activator between layers every now and then.

Fill in alternate layers of greens and browns about 100 - 150mm thick. Damp it all down as you place in your Dalek in layers, and it will rot down faster than you can keep filling it up, until one magical day it stops going to half empty or full and starts to fill to the top.

This will make you smile and you will not be able to resist doing what I did



I have a rotary sieve and the good stuff gets used and the larger woody stuff gets put back in the Compost bin.



This is composting corner where I keep the cut up cardboard, shredded paper, coffee grounds, spent compost, large lumps from sieved MPC, Spent Hops and Coir ready for the flow of grass cuttings and greens to add to the Daleks.

[SarrissUK]

I have two compost bins - one for filling, and one that is working its magic. I stick in all of my waste paper and cardboard, a lot of green waste, and every now and again I get some coir and sprinkle that in as a layer. My soil has too much clay and dries into rock hard lumps, so adding the coir will slowly help with that. I water the bins regularly too, but only turn them once or twice a year.

[Mr Bones]

Apart from the usual garden and paper waste, we're fortunate to have 10 or 12 bags a fortnight from rabbit hutches. If everything is chopped fairly small and turned regularly it can be ready to use as mulch in as little as three months.

[rary]

I usually drop any cardboard or paper along with any light cuttings of trees and bushes and weeds on the grass when I am cutting the grass, this helps mix carbon and nitrogen providers and put it in a recycle bin and leave it till I prepare the garden for the next growing season when I will spread it over the soil whither composted or not, it breaks down over the winter

[veggiechicken]

I don't have a compost bin - I have a chicken run. All the weeds and vegetable trimmings go in their run. The chooks eat whatever they like and turn it into manure. They also shred and turn the waste regularly. My only input is to clean it out every few months and spread the waste on a bed that needs improving.

[Dynamite]

Cut up greens as much as possible in addition to grass cuttings (I get as many from family and friends as possible), shred cardboard loo rolls and junk mail and other paper for your browns, layer water, add coffee grounds and spent hops from the local brewery and add Liquid gold (Pee) and Comfrey as an activator between layers every now and then.

Fill in alternate layers of greens and browns about 100 - 150mm thick. Damp it all down as you place in your Dalek in layers, and it will rot down faster than you can keep filling it up, until one magical day it stops going to half empty or full and starts to fill to the top.

This will make you smile and you will not be able to resist doing what I did

[ATTACH=CONFIG]81990[/ATTACH]

I have a rotary sieve and the good stuff gets used and the larger woody stuff gets put back in the Compost bin.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]81991[/ATTACH]

This is composting corner where I keep the cut up cardboard, shredded paper, coffee grounds, spent compost, large lumps from sieved MPC, Spent Hops and Coir ready for the flow of grass cuttings and greens to add to the Daleks.

Rotary Sieve Cadders? Please elaborate as I’m intrigued.

Kind Regards.............Rob

[Jay-ell]

I have a compost fairy. He does gardening jobs around the estate (lawn mowing, hedge trimming, etc) and rather than him having to pay to get rid of the waste he drops it off at mine so I have alot to go into the compost bins.

Not everything gets composted in the bin - as I usually get lots of grass this goes onto the bed as mulch and composts in situ. It gets topped up with wilted weeds, garden trimmings, comfrey, rhubarb leaves, etc so almost every bed becomes a compost bed.

[Cadalot]

Rotary Sieve Cadders? Please elaborate as I’m intrigued.

Kind Regards.............Rob

Take a look at Alans Allotment: Rotary Soil Sieve

[bikermike]

my compost is suffering. I haven't mowed my lawn more than about once this year...

My tip is to talk to your neighbours - I get their green bins full of matter.

[muck lover]

My compost has an awful lot of weed seeds in it. I don't think it heats up much and I lack the shoulder power to turn it. I still use it and mulch over the top. I am moving more and more towards mulching and no dig just because it is easier for me physically.

[ESBkevin]

If it once lived it is organic and so could go in the compost You hav eto be aware of rodents that might invade for 'treats' but otherwise I try to compost everything from non glossy paper and cardboard to lawn clippings and shredded hedge clippings
I gather autumn leaves to make leaf mould and also some gets added to the compost. I also collect leaves and clippings from a local churchyard where they have no use for it and also any leaves I can get from a nearby school playing field.
The local football club shredde tree trimmings in situ on around thier perimiter a couple of years ago and I've been busy moving thier heaps to my allotment ever since (getting to the end now).
The compost heap gets turned once or maybe twice and because I'm a getherer all the time I usually have compost on hand when I need some.

[Jay-ell]

I also Bokashi left over food - which basically pickles it so that it doesn't go rancid. This gets added to the compost but also gets buried into the beds where I'm going to plant hungry plants. My pumpkins growing over the bokashi pits are romping away compared to the one that isn't.

I used to rotate my compost bins on different beds each year so that the nutrients that leech out the bin would soak into the bed. I find that the Dalek style and smaller compost bins aren't big enough to get hot compost so I'm upsizing my compost bins

[Derbydal]

Take a look at Alans Allotment: Rotary Soil Sieve

I made one out of a 45gal plastic barel cut in half cost £2 for scews from wilko pick an mix and a bit enginueity LOL.atb Dal.