Compost bins how do you fill yours ?

[Kristen]

one of the problems with cold composting was the space required. I simply don't have room for 3 heaps

Good point. What type of (physical) bin do you use for hot composting - is it a specific brand thingie, or just the way you choose to be careful with proportions of materials added etc?

[Penellype]

I use one of these HotBin Compost Bin - Composting Garden Waste & Food Waste Year Round although you could make your own insulated bin if you are good at DIY (I am not). The method is slightly different from cold composting - in an ordinary heap you have to keep it moist otherwise it can get too dry and then things won't rot, in the hotbin you have to be careful it doesn't get too wet, as this can make it go anaerobic and smelly.

[Kristen]

I use one of these HotBin Compost Bin - Composting Garden Waste & Food Waste Year Round .

Ah yes, I know the one now, although not tried it myself. Glad it is going well for you

[Philthy]

I have a council supplied green dalek thing. It's about 5' tall, totally open at the bottom.
I put in veg peelings (plus any whole fruit/ veg that has gone off), teabags, egg shells, grass cuttings, soft whippy prunings, leaves, and spent compost from the greenhouse.
The only things I bother to chop up first are hard vegetables like turnip, and rose prunings. Everything else goes in as it is collected.
I don't put in any paper or cardboard, that just goes in the recycling bin.
I never water it; it's always moist when I take the lid off, so no need. If the compost is looking a bit on the wet side, the next time I cut the grass, I'll make sure to add a bag of cuttings collected from directly under the couple of conifers in the garden: this is always dry, brown conifer leaves(?), dust, and dead grass. Nice and dry to soak up the excess moisture.
I used to add bonfire ash, but then stopped as I thought it might adversely affect the PH of the compost. Likewise, for a time I added sawdust from DIY projects, but then read somewhere that it takes ages to break down, and robs the heap of nitrogen, so stopped that too.
I don't add any accelerators, pee, or even turn the mixture. Just leave it. But it's always full of worms and bugs, so the balance must be about right.
The resulting compost taken from the bottom via a side hatch, is always rich, moist, and largely odorless. It gets added to potting compost, and spread as mulch.

The only problems are the time it takes to produce, and the dalek only has one hatch, so you can never access the stuff at the back. When its full, the shape and height mean it is impossible to turn the compost.
At some point I'd like to replace the dalek with two traditional box style bins, side by side, so I can turn the mixture one into the other and hopefully, greatly speed up the decomposition process.

[Kristen]

At some point I'd like to replace the dalek with two traditional box style bins, side by side, so I can turn the mixture one into the other and hopefully, greatly speed up the decomposition process.

I've seen them for sale. I've also seen a video of the allotment of some chap who wins awards for his frequently - lucky, and no doubt skilled , chap.

Sorry, rabbiting on, but I liked his compost bins, and it made me think that the ones offered for sale are wrongly designed.

He had three of different sizes, his thinking is that you fill the first one and then when you come to turn it then it's volume has shrunk (I'm doing this from memory, so maybe Bin 2 is the same size as Bin 1 - fill Bin 1 and when full turn it into Bin 2).

Bin 3 is definitely smaller, on the basis that by the time it is due to be turned then Bin 2 will have shrunk by 25% - 50%, so Bin 3 should be that size. Bin 3 is emptied, and used, and Bin 2 is turned into Bin 3, and Bin 1 turned into Bin 2. This is a different principle to "Fill Bin 1 and leave it there until it has rotted, meantime start filling Bin 2"

I'm sure I could have described that a lot better than I did - sorry about that.

[Two_Sheds]

All my grass clippings go in another heap. Grass provide plenty of heat in a compost heap, but any reasonable quantity will go Anaerobic and make a smelly mess

Grass clippings make a terrific mulch for onions, potatoes etc, keeping moisture in and weeds down. Only a couple inches at a time though, or it'll start steaming

one of the problems with cold composting was the space required. I simply don't have room for 3 heaps

You can do it with one dalek: when it's full, lift the whole thing up & off the contents. Reposition the dalek somewhere else, and shovel the unrotted stuff into the now-empty bin.
The little heap that's left will have a quantity of good-enough compost, which you can rake onto wherever you need it, and any lumps get thrown into the new bin

I
The only problems are the time it takes to produce, and the dalek only has one hatch, so you can never access the stuff at the back.

Quite right, the hatches are useless, but moving the whole thing, like I said above, makes it all quicker & easier

[Kristen]

Grass clippings make a terrific mulch for onions, potatoes etc, keeping moisture in and weeds down. Only a couple inches at a time though, or it'll start steaming

I did use grass clippings, when we had a very late and devastating cold [for time of year] frost one year, to completely cover my Early Spuds, which were fully earthed up and also had lots of leaf on top of that. Even doubled-up Fleece would not have kept that frost off. Had no weeds, and no poking-through-the-surface green potatoes that year at all Probably didn't need to water either (can't remember though)

[bario1]

I have three bins, two pallet type ones next to each other, and a smaller commercial lidded one. I don't really know what I'm doing because I'm fairly new to GYO, but so far I've used mine like this:

I throw all my household green waste, peelings, dead flowers egg shells etc into the commercial type bin, along with torn up cardboard and shredded paper (about 60/40 in favour of 'browns') and occasionally some water and man water. I've been doing this for 2 years and have never managed to fill it yet! I don't know what's in the bottom of that thing.

The two larger, open bins I use more like Lasagne beds. I fill one up over the growing season with layers of manure, straw, weeds, shredded paper, cardboard, spent compost, leafmould, whatever i can get my hands on in bulk. I then cover and leave over winter. In Spring I plant two courgette plants into this and they love it! While they are in one bin I start filling the other bin in the same way. When the courgettes are done I turn over what's in the bin, top it up with more stuff and cover over winter, then dig out the whole bin the next spring and spread it on the allotment. The other bin is then ready to become my courgette bed the following season etc etc.

[Newishgardener]

Grass clippings make a terrific mulch for onions, potatoes etc, keeping moisture in and weeds down. Only a couple inches at a time though, or it'll start steaming

When you say use grass clippings do you just put them straight from being cut on to the soil or do you let them break down a bit elsewhere first ??


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[Kristen]

I suppose there is one option here to separate out "rough compost" in late Autumn / Winter (sift the compost heap in some way, whilst turning it) and chuck all the rough stuff in the Runner Bean trench.

I never seem to get around to making a Runner Bean trench, and I am sure that I should - so that they have better moisture-retention during the Summer.

[Kristen]

When you say use grass clippings do you just put them straight from being cut on to the soil or do you let them break down a bit elsewhere first ??

Be interested to see what TS has t say, but I think if you are putting down a thin layer then straight-from-mower would be fine.

When I grew early spuds (I grow the earliest ones in Bags now in order not to have to frost protect them during April and possibly May) I used to stack the lawn mowings near the spud beds so they were "on hand" if we had a late frost.

Either way, I wouldn't use mower clippings after treating the lawn with Weed and Feed or a selective weedkiller (I would say "for the rest of the season" or 6 month-ish, although the instructions might say a shorter period ??)

[Kristen]

P.S. I checked the label for Verdone Extra:
http://www.lovethegarden.com/system/...ve-label_1.pdf

"The first mowing after application must not be used as a mulch, either fresh or after composting since it may damage desired plants. Dispose of via normal household waste. Do not dispose of via council composting schemes. The next three mowings should be used as a mulch only after composting well for at least 9 months"

so a lot more tolerant than I would choose to be. The Clopyralid is much the same, persistent, chemical as Aminopyralid which did such huge damage when contaminated manure was used on allotments a few years back, and there have been on-and-off reports of whether Clopyralid is getting into municipal composting in sufficient concentrations, despite being massively "diluted" by other plant material, to actually do harm when the compost is used. Either way, I play safe when I use herbicides on my lawn.

[Two_Sheds]

When you say use grass clippings do you just put them straight from being cut

Yes, freshly cut grass mowings

I never seem to get around to making a Runner Bean trench

I don't bother with one. My beans grow really well, on sandy soil, with no trench.

[Kristen]

I don't bother with one. My beans grow really well, on sandy soil, with no trench.

Your soil has had a lot of humus over the years though? and thus may be in better heart than mine (although mine has been well manured too), and probably better heart than most newbie's patches do you think?

I'm thinking I'll try half-and-half this year. I fancy trying a trench, and sieving some compost to separate out the good stuff, and the only-haft-composted stalks etc. can go in the half-of-the-bean's-trench as an experiement

[Two_Sheds]

Your soil has had a lot of humus over the years though?

Not lots, no. I've only had this lotty for 6 years