Turning compost in a compost bin.

[Losos]

I think patience is key Losos.....
I'm not using daleks at the mo ~ I've got two large wooden boxes that the front pieces can be taken off to lower the frontage...

Ah yes, 'patience' my wife says I don't have any

Thanks for your input, that type of bin (or 2 or even 3) is another option, I think we have enough 'stuff' to fill it, just feeling my age when it comes to 'turning' it but maybe you don't have too.

[lottie dolly]

I do not turn mine,no energy for that one,i find it still goes down,just a bit longer to wait.

[Jay-ell]

Being idle I use one of these a compost aerator, the bottom flaps fold up as you push it in and then drop down as you pull it back out.

I use a similar one to this every now and then. I also push a length of broom handle in the middle, waggle it about and pull it out to leave an air channel into the centre.

From what I've seen of the tumbler types they don't hold as much if you still want to be able to turn them so you still need other bins to handle the excess.

I usually put the bins on the ends of beds and rotate them each year so that the juices are soaked into the bed and the soil in that bed gets the benefit of having the compost I can't shovel as well.

Having a few compost bins means that I fill one at a time and some are ready in autumn to move and refill, others are emptied and moved in spring ready to fill up.

[BUFFS]

I have never turned a compost bin, I just keep loading it all summer and open the front hatch in the autumn and shovel it onto the areas selected, along with the grapefruit sized balls of worms that seem to be in each spadeful. I let the worms do the rest, I do cover the worms initially as we seem to have loads of birds, especially Robins watching, ready to dive in and hoover up anything they can get hold of. I start the kitchen scraps,especially tattie peelings off in a old home brewers bin for at least 2/3 weeks cooking in sunlight to kill off any chance of anything germinating before they go into the compost bin, the soil level has risen over 3ins since we moved in about 15yrs ago and the soil gone from a red to black so it does seem to work out okay..

[ESBkevin]

I have two pallet type bins side by side, shuffling from one to the other does the trick if required but once or twice is usually enough once you've got a production system going. The correct mix is the real secret but adding nettles or urine for extra nitrogon and stale beer or cola for the sugar feed all work as accelerants for the micro organisms. Just try to avoid putting in huge amounts of grass clippings without adding some 'brown' mixed in and you should be good to go.