compost with bits in?

[beach chick]

started my dalek bin about 10 mths ago, and chucked a load of twiggy stuff at the bottom, and then pretty much anything which came at it - no weeds, but kitchen waste and tired compost out of pots, plus leafy non-weed stuff.
I used compost accelerator occasionally, and also stirred it with one of those hook things.
the prob now is: its about 3/4 full, and I can see lots of lovely compost in it. but its full of BITS!! eg, kitchen waste which hasn't yet rotted down (grapes, an egg shell, half a banana, etc etc).
what do I do now? I could use the compost immediately to fill up a new raised bed, but not sure if I can do so with the 'bits' in - please dont tell me I have to tip it and sieve it, else I'll cry...

[Alice]

I'm sure you can just use it with the "bits" in beach chick. Well I hope so, because I've tipped mine in the bottom of a raised bed. Reckon it can all rot down in the bottom of the bed just the same.
I think there's a theory that unrotted wooden bits might deplete the soil of nitrogen as they rot, so I'll just make sure I add a high nitrogen feed (Tomorite).
Interesting to see what others think.
I've moved my compost bin to a warmer area and hope it will decompose better there.

[Protea]

I always get loads of bits in my compost - i guess i'm either not patient enough, or didn't chop the bits into small enough pieces! I emptied my dalek at the end of the glorious April weather and spread over my flower borders - i found un-composted tea bags and all sorts! I tried sieving about 1 bucket load and gave up - it will all rot down eventually!

[beach chick]

fantastic, I shall just tip it into the new bed then! thanks Alice and Protea

[Digger-07]

I have "bits" in one of my bins - brown furry ones with long tails.

I think I did everything I should have - no cooked food - only garden waste etc. but the rats have still made it home. After trapping 4 of the critters in one night I reluctantly put down poison which has all been taken and I have renewed it today.

[beach chick]

urrggghhh! Digger, I really hope I don't find one (let alone more) when I empty mine...

[snohare]

I have a friend who operates raised beds on a large scale to grow organic vegetables, and he doesn't bother with compost heaps nowadays, he simply has a couple of empty boxes that he puts all the waste into. A wee top up with topsoil as they become full (that usually takes a few months), and hey presto, lovely crops from planting on top ! (Mark you, it is more broken down before he plants root crops into it, due to rotation.) Full of wee bits underneath, but it doesn't make any difference, in fact if anything it helps retain moisture. (For peas and other legumes I imagine it would be great, they want uncomposted stuff.) Me, I use a compost caddy and an oldfashioned bin, and the two things I do to help eliminate lumps is tear every teabag slightly, and soak/slice the likes of banana skins so that they go mouldy faster. Egg shells seem to take forever !
So Digger, are you on a meat-free diet, or were you thinking of adding the livestock to your smallholding plans ?

[Madasafish]

I never compost eggsheels. I dry them in an old ice cream box on top of the boiler, crush them with a meat tenderiser when box is full and either put them in a bigger box (winter) or spread on garden or in compost.

As for the rest, my compost is full of bits when I spread it in winter as a mulch. By spring bits have either rotted or I remove and replace on compost heap.

Sieving is for wimps:-)

[beach chick]

am taking 2 pronged approach: chuck compost on bed and leave for birds til can think again. then will remove biggest lumps and chuck back into dalek!

[susieq100]

Love your "sieving is for wimps" Madasafish. I put a layer on the bottom of my one raised bed with compost I had made last year (my first attempt) and it was full of egg shells and melon rinds that had not broken down. I'm afraid I did not have any equipment to sieve it and certainly wasn't going to go and buy something. Glad that I seem to have done the right thing for all the wrong reasons!

[Dig-in-Dudley]

I've got bits in my compost too & it I've been advised that it's OK to put it in bottom of a trench & then top up with normal soil & plant into that. Apparently beans love it like that!? I'm guessing that the bean plant just throws down roots & hunts out the nutrition?
Happy accident: When I put lots of used tea bags into my compost the neighbours cat stoped using my veggie bed as a toilet! Not sure this is a coincidence though? has anyone else experienced this?
I have a dalek composter & can't seem to get enough out of it. I'm using some granules that you are supposed to sprinkle onto the waste inside the dalek (also known in our house as "our precious"). I don't seem to be seeing much progress - does anyone else use these granules & what are the results like?

[Madasafish]

>Susieq
Thanks. Gardening is the art of maximum results for minimum effort imo:-))

As for compost breakdown, pee works wonders (from a watering can.. so no embarassing exposure:-))

My daleks have become wormeries - purely by chance and sluggeries as well - better than eating my lettuce:-)

I stop the mice by blocking the entry and exit holes.

A bit of grass (mowings) helps breakdown the rest:

Daleks should ALWAYS be placed in a sunny poistion on earth .. speeds up decomposition

but wdik? I'm just a lazy gardener:-)

[tinyvine]

Egg shells are a valuable source of calcium for soil so its ok to add them but they should be crushed first as they take forever to decompose. Skins of most fruit should be cut into little pieces because they take a long time.
I tear my tea bags but I often forget to remove the staple!!!

Peas love uncomposted material. Because it is lots of mosture retained in the soil and they love it down by their roots.