Advice re composting please

[Two_Sheds]

About egg shells, You need to make sure that you crush them before you put them in the bin.

For two reasons:

1. Most importantly Witches will go to sea in them if you do not crush them and sink ships.
2. Less importantly if you dont crush them the resual egg ferments in the shell and when you dig out the compost it stinks like hell.

and a third: rats and foxes are attracted to eggs and will root through your heap looking for them.

[lainey lou]

ref the wee, yes go for it but not tooooo much as it puts the worms off!

[Digger-07]

Keep turning the heap to speed things up. I have three bins. The first is fresh stuff which is just filled to the top. When its full I turn it into the second bin and leave it until the first is full again when everything gets moved again. The last bin has almost finished compost, I remove anything needing a bit longer back to the middle bin.

It means a bit more work but I can get usable compost for mulching the beds in about 3 months.

[allotmentlady]

Is that why your called digger LOl?

[marionj]

My first succes in the veg patch was my compost and like Digger I kept turning it and was surprised it was rotted in around 3 to 4 months. I was so chuffed. My raised beds were not quite ready to use so as my 2nd bin was nearly full I left the compost that was ready on a corner of where the completed bed was to be over winter and as the bed is now ready have spread it over the surface. I was surprised at the amount of worms there were in it. It is hard work to keep turning it but it seems to work.

[ClayGarden]

I've heard before about this 3 bin system, thats what monty and titchmarsh do. But i just dont have the room for that many. After a year though i've used my first homemade compost. Its really quite amazing what comes out at the end isn't it. I turned mine over about 3 or 4 times i reckon through the year.

[Arachne]

Whenever I can, I cut up my composting ingredients into smaller peices obviously not necessary with potato peel as that's the size I try to achieve for anything else.

I've been told that potato peelings shouldn't go in the compost. Not sure if that's an old wives tale or not, but I've been faithfully putting it in the council compost (they'll take anything, even meat/fish). Anyone got any light to shed on this?

[ClayGarden]

I've been told that potato peelings shouldn't go in the compost. Not sure if that's an old wives tale or not, but I've been faithfully putting it in the council compost (they'll take anything, even meat/fish). Anyone got any light to shed on this?

I've been composting potato peelings just fine. Nearly anything organic can go in. The only reason things cant is if they may atrract pests/vermin like rats.

[Claire72]

How interesting! That will explain why Ive got an intact egg shell at the bottom of my compost bin! Bernie

Me too!!!!