Complete newb to composting help please

[Superh]

Created a bin today. I'm not sure how to start it though.

I have a fair amount of grass and leaves and other old plants from the summer to use but I'm not sure if i just sling it straight in. the bin is on concrete. I was thinking about putting a few inches of old compost on the bottom and then adding newspaper, then kitchen and garden scraps, does that sound okay?

thanks.

Ps - where would the best place to find cheap straw be?

[zazen999]

a - yes, sling it in. My top tip is that if you want compost faster, chop the stuff that goes in as much as you can. Don't forget to mix greens with browns for a good mix.
b - a farm.

[Bigmallly]

As long as you have a balance of green & brown material which it sounds like you have then it should be ok, my only concern is that if it is on concrete, you will have to make sure it has a cover on the top as there will be nowhere for excess water to run. I wouldn't bother putting compost in the bottom, just throw your waste in & mother nature will do the rest. Urine is a good accelerator.

[BertieFox]

1. Lazy man's method ... Sling everything in, as you get it, everything that will rot. Don't put in things which are too woody as they take too long to rot. Sprout and cabbage stumps are best smashed or put at the bottom of the heap. Give it at least a whole year and you will have a sticky smelly mass which is fine for mulching, and somewhere underneath some not bad stuff, full of weed seeds, which you can dress your beds with or dig in.

2. Smartie Pants' method

You have at least TWO bins, no slats, three or four feet cube, at least. Also a cover of some kind.
Save up all your green waste, grass cuttings etc in one pile beside the bin, and keep things like cardboard, straw, hay and so on in another pile.
When you have enough to completely fill the first bin, mix the piles together to get a really good mixture of nitrogen (green) and carbon (wood and paper). In between each layer of six inches or so, shake some top soil or even better, compost activator. Make sure all the materials are damp, but not wet.
Cover the completed heap with a piece of carpet to retain the heat. Stand back and wait for your bin to heat up. It should go like a rocket after a few days. Weed seeds will be cooked and fungal pathogens destroyed.
When the heat starts to die down, dig the whole lot out, mix it up again as you go, and put it into the second bin. Cover it again, and it should heat up all over again. Do it a third time if you have the strength and enthusiasm.
By the next summer you should have half or a third of a bin full of good, clean peat like compost, with few weed seeds, which you can use anywhere or even to mix into your home made composts bulked out with grit or proprietary potting composts.

[Superh]

Thanks for the advice. I heard that worms help to make good compost, would it be worth pulling up two of the stone slabs so it's resting on mud?

cheers.

[rustylady]

I prefer to have mine on soil rather than concrete or slabs.

[Two_Sheds]

the bin is on concrete.

why? don't you have any soil?

where would the best place to find cheap straw be?

what you want it for?

[Two_Sheds]

I heard that worms help to make good compost

Earthworms don't, it's the red/tiger/brandling worms that do the composting. You can buy them from angling shops, or they usually manage to just find their own way in. Concrete won't help them though ... put it on soil if you can

[zazen999]

Thanks for the advice. I heard that worms help to make good compost, would it be worth pulling up two of the stone slabs so it's resting on mud?

cheers.

Yes, absolutely.

[Superh]

why? don't you have any soil?

what you want it for?

I can't seem to get enough "brown" stuff for the mixture so I'm looking to bulk it up with more.

[Two_Sheds]

Newspaper is cheaper, and you'll be saving it from landfill