compost using daleks

[Two_Sheds]

easier to turn

You shouldn't try and get the compost out of the stupid little hatch at the bottom.

Turn your dalek frequently (I do it every 3-6 months) by lifting the whole thing up and off the compost. Photo here and here

Put the dalek in a new place (I put them on the beds, where the compost is going to be used), then fork all the stuff back in, but taking out and using the stuff that looks most "done"

should I stick with the daleks?

Yes, I love them. have 2 at home, 5 at the lotty and 2 at school.


btw, I've just found one that has made perfect, perfect black crumbly compost: but the lady hadn't touched it for 5 years! I said she shouldn't wait that long, use it when it's semi-perfect.


Use it as a mulch on the top of veg beds, and the worms will pull all they want, it will soon be doing good. Don't dig it in, it doesn't work as well that way, and you destroy the worms tunnels when you dig


Browns
You need to add all your brown stuff: cardboard boxes ripped up; egg boxes; shredded or balled newspaper; loo rolls; used tissues etc.

The easiest way to get browns in is to wrap your kitchen peelings in a sheet of newspaper every time.

Our "brown" bin is only emptied by the bin men once every two months: it's only plastic that goes in it

[KittyColdNose]

I get jiggy with the spade and hack big bits to pieces. A food processor takes care of egg shells before they go in.

[Pinfold Plotter]

I've got two daleks and two wooden bins. Manure and lots of cardboard and egg boxes goes in one dalek (to create air pockets to stop the manure getting soggy), and I save the other one for stuff that takes longer to break down - stalks etc, mixed with some green and brown matter (and they get turned regularly). No discernible difference in quality between the two types - the wooden bins just take that little bit longer (and are harder to turn!).

[Darwin.]

wet stuff will not go through a shredder!!

So if I have a slightly gone off carrot or parsnip that I drop down the hole at the top it wont be fed through the way a stick would? I'd imagine it would.

[Two_Sheds]

A "slightly gone off" ie rotting, vegetable is well on its way to compost. It doesn't need shredding

[Darwin.]

You shouldn't try and get the compost out of the stupid little hatch at the bottom.



Browns
You need to add all your brown stuff: cardboard boxes ripped up; egg boxes; shredded or balled newspaper; loo rolls; used tissues etc.

The easiest way to get browns in is to wrap your kitchen peelings in a sheet of newspaper every time.

Our "brown" bin is only emptied by the bin men once every two months: it's only plastic that goes in it

Used tissues? What about kitchen paper with bits of grease on it?

I have loads of paper to shred but someone said the ink on it is bad and it or newspapers shouldn't be used. Am I listening to the wrong people?

[Two_Sheds]

Newspaper ink is vegetable-based these days. It can go in the compost.

Use tissues: snot germs can't survive on tissues, so they can be composted.

Grease: I compost grease, fat, bones and skin of meat. No problems so far. They can attract rats, but haven't.

[Darwin.]

Cooked or raw fat? Thought you'd need a wormery fot that? If I could use all that extra stuff it would be brilliant.

[Madasafish]

I have two daleks. Kitchen waste and dead flowers only. Cut up nothing. Once a week wet newspaper from the bottom of the kitchen caddy which takes kitchen waste. Oh and LOTS of tea bags..(Yorkshire tea)

Placed on soil. Never stirred. Full of worms and slugs.

Fill one up to the top - takes 6 months. Leave it to be digested by worms. Turns into a mix of brown worm droppings and lumpy bits and tea bag covers.

Dig into ground : and within a year no tea bag covers left. Ideal for bean trenches.

The slugs are big big orangey ones: pick them up and make your own nematodes.. much cheaper than buying. The war on slugs starts at home - Telegraph


Then lift off dalek and dig it out.

This winter has been so cold the worms are on strike...

Thousands of worms : ideal for feeding birds.. the blackbirds go stir crazy when I dig it in...

[Two_Sheds]

Cooked or raw fat? Thought you'd need a wormery fot that?

I do use a wormery. It's called a dalek.

It's full of composting worms (the red ones), absolutely seething with them. I compost ... EVERYTHING !

[iam]

If the run off reaches the pond it will add nitrates to it which will be a problem to your pond and fish.
try making a hot box for your compost I have made two from six large poly fish boxes (2ft6in. 80cm?) the ones without holes in them I run some silicon sealant round the rim of the lower two stacked them three high and then cut out the bottom of the top and middle boxes to give them some strength I encased them in the plastic sheeting that is used for notices, house sales etc. I have placed all kitchen waste in them I transfer from one to the other when I have mind, and empty the liquid left in the base into plastic bottles for a plant feed. I drop an old rusty nail into it as that was added to addle