Best way to Home Compost.

[TeeDee]

Just putting the feelers out for suggestions on the best way to home compost - Any top tips of bit of kit that make it easy.

Just want to cut down on home produced waste in the most sensible way.

How do you do yours in an Urban environment.

 

[bobnewboy]

Have a word with your local council. Most of them are desperate to increase the amount of recycling done (EU targets sent down by HM Government), and so many councils offer free or very cheap plastic composting bins to residents. We got a large bin with a base cap and top cap for a few quid (a fiver?) from our local council, and everything that is vegetable waste goes in there, along with tea bags and so on. The bin has an opening 'door' on the side at the bottm, and that is where you take the rotted down compost out after a year or two. They take a lot of stuff, but also quite a while to get going, so dont be in too much of a rush

 

[JohnC]

We got one composting bin from the council, the other from a friend, both the same idea, open at the base, I put a wire mesh on the ground to discourage burrowing creatures.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

I would totally agree with the wire mesh underneath if you are getting a purpose made composter, also a good tip is to get down your local allotment and ask someone if you can have a 5 minute dig in their compost heap to collect a few worms, they will almost certainly be Brandling worms (Tiger Worms, the name will be apparent when you see them) Red Worms will work too but they are not as versatile as Brandlings and tend to be a bit more picky on what they are fed.....don't be fooled into going to the local fishing tackle shop for a tub of worms, they will almost certainly be Dendobaena Worms (European Night Crawlers) which in their natural state live in leaf mould just under the surface and are generally very reluctant to burrow....they will live up to their nicknames and simply leave the composter on the first wet/damp night. A strict 'NO NO' is any meat products, basically vegetable matter only in the composter. Don't pack the stuff down too tight and if it is at all possible to layer the stuff that you put in ie. grass cuttings then a layer of leaves or kitchen waste then cuttings again, the whole thing needs a certain amount of air to work at it's best and quickest, the big plastic composters (though they do work) are not all that good as regards allowing air to the mix so it pays to help if you can.

D.B.

 

[TeeDee]

I would totally agree with the wire mesh underneath if you are getting a purpose made composter, also a good tip is to get down your local allotment and ask someone if you can have a 5 minute dig in their compost heap to collect a few worms, they will almost certainly be Brandling worms (Tiger Worms, the name will be apparent when you see them) Red Worms will work too but they are not as versatile as Brandlings and tend to be a bit more picky on what they are fed.....don't be fooled into going to the local fishing tackle shop for a tub of worms, they will almost certainly be Dendobaena Worms (European Night Crawlers) which in their natural state live in leaf mould just under the surface and are generally very reluctant to burrow....they will live up to their nicknames and simply leave the composter on the first wet/damp night. A strict 'NO NO' is any meat products, basically vegetable matter only in the composter. Don't pack the stuff down too tight and if it is at all possible to layer the stuff that you put in ie. grass cuttings then a layer of leaves or kitchen waste then cuttings again, the whole thing needs a certain amount of air to work at it's best and quickest, the big plastic composters (though they do work) are not all that good as regards allowing air to the mix so it pays to help if you can.

D.B.

Good info - thanks.

 

[Robson Valley]

Might I add = no woody twigs of any sort.
My "compost" bins are 4-sided wooden boxes with no bottoms. Functionally, they serve as dumps for all sorts of lawn clippings,rotten apples and vegetable tops.
60" x 60" x 36". ,more or less. For me, just a place to get rid of organic stuff. 1x6 fence boards and 2x4 uprights for corners. Once a week maybe 5-8 catcher bags of lawn clippings from April to September.
In 15 years, I have not filled it yet.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

I too prefer the home made ones (muck heaps) though mine are made from the old fashioned breeze blocks, trench blocks, insulating blocks (what ever name you choose to give them)....A good idea if you make your own is to design a regular shape, square or rectangular, so you can make a wooden lid for it, the lid is a wooden frame with a heavy duty plastic stapled on as a top......BRILLIANT HEATED PROPOGATORS.

D.B.

 

[Robson Valley]

Never bothered with a lid as I depend mostly on the rain for the moisture to keep decomp going.
In fact, I'll water it when it looks dusty dry like last summer.
One winter was long, cold and snowy (12-18" at a time.) For some long forgotten reason, I just HAD to collect
a bucket of good rot. Snow dome over the heap, expected. It turned out to be 12" snow on top of a 2" thick ice dome,
created by the heat of decomp!

 

[Drain Bamaged]

I only use the lids in the winter and early spring just as 'heated cold frames' for wintering over more delicate plants or cuttings and as propagators for early veg etc. drying out is not a problem here in the winter. They get a lot of extra water put on them in the summer as I grow Marrows and Courgettes (zucchini) on them. once the Marrows have finished (or I run out of storage space, jam jars for chutney or people to give them too) I practically empty the 'pits' start them again with Autumn waste giving several inches of space below the lids for storage and early growth of what ever is being protected. Because I tend to use it before it's had full time to rot down it is generally a very course compost from these pits but it is really good for filling in trenches that Beans and Potatoes are later planted into. The compost for seeds etc. is made in other bins and generally takes about 2 years to rot down completely to a nice light fluffy mix.

D.B.

 

[Robson Valley]

There's a lean-to on the west side of my garden shed that I'll modify this summer (add translucent roof & walls) that should extend my frost free season at both ends.
Temp range here is -30C to +35C in summer afternoons. We cook in the mountain valley by 4PM! I have some of the grape vines on a trellis 14' high, 40' long and 24" out from the west side of the house for afternoon shade. Just 2 big vines planted in 2001, got 65lbs each in 2013. I might be facing stem rot in one of them. But 2 smaller clones coming up nicely for replacements.

I don't think that I'll ever use the "muck-box"compost for anything. Maybe when I modify the shed, put in some bins, etc. A year ago last November, it was hard to see under one night's dump of 36" snow. 200M away, friend measured 44" in his yard.

 

[Toddy]

I use the dalek type ones bobnewboy mentions. They're cold heaps and are full of brandling worms. It takes about six months to make really, really good rich black friable worm worked soil from anything organic that goes into them.
I even rinse out the milk bottles into them. The worms love that…..apparantly they thrived in byres under the straw where cows lay down to chew the cud and leaked a bit from their teats.

The worms are gatherable from our bins in handfuls of writhing knots that weigh near a kilogram.

I'm pretty sure we had at least one rat visiting this past month, but Himself emptied the heap and re-started it with the top unrotted layers and there's been no sign of ratty since. Rather relieved at that

In season they get the grass cuttings, the prunings of the dried reeds and rotting waterlily leaves from the ponds, and the leaf litter sweepings from the garden and paths. We have a shredder and anything woody goes through that and into the heaps too. So do things like egg boxes (and egg shells) and spent compost from plant pots. I just keep layering stuff into the top and brilliant soil comes out the bottom

Our garden is on heavy blue clay (local clay quarries still make brilliant bricks, but it used to be used for fancy tiles) and it devours organic matter. It's the only way to keep the soil open, so we compost everything we can.

We tried the brick built ones with slatted fronts and wooden boards for lids, and they just didn't work. It took near three years for the stuff to rot down. The black plastic daleks are brilliant and the Councils give them out to folks who ask for a few pounds

M

 

[nic a char]

try the gardening books
- an old good recipe is simply mix it all up & cover with black plastic
- bob flowerdew is expert & modern
it's all online...

 

[Macaroon]

All good info above, but one important thing I'd add to this; equal (as far as possible) amounts of "brown" and "green" is important for good quality compost.

Brown: = Cardboard, paper, egg boxes, and animal manures such as horse, chicken and pig etc., paper and card to be torn or shredded as small as possible...........

Green: = All your plant and veg. waste, cooked veg. waste is ok as long as there's no trace of meat, fruit is great especially banana peel.............And as much urine as you can get on/in it!

nic a char's advice to look up Bob Flowerdew is spot on, he's the man for this stuff

 

[Toddy]

My household is pretty much vegetarian, so it's not an issue, but…why do folks say not to put meat scraps and bones into the heaps? I occasionally have put deer bones in to be stripped and cleaned. The worms do a brilliant job

M

 

[Macaroon]

My household is pretty much vegetarian, so it's not an issue, but…why do folks say not to put meat scraps and bones into the heaps? I occasionally have put deer bones in to be stripped and cleaned. The worms do a brilliant job

M

It's simply to make the heap less attractive to vermin; seems odd to be writing this in the light of my recent rat invasion, eh?. But I think it is the case that no meat means you might not get them, meat ensures them. I put bones on mine, but there's not much left of them after Molly is through with them. The stuff that goes into my compost is strictly the only food waste from my household, nothing edible goes in the bins here!

 

[nic a char]

grow comfrey - it's rich organic compost & easy organic fertiliser
https://www.growveg.com/guides/grow-your-own-fertilizer-using-comfrey/

 

[TeeDee]

grow comfrey - it's rich organic compost & easy organic fertiliser
https://www.growveg.com/guides/grow-your-own-fertilizer-using-comfrey/

Isn't going to happen - Its an Urban environment , think small back garden.

 

[Macaroon]

grow comfrey - it's rich organic compost & easy organic fertiliser
https://www.growveg.com/guides/grow-your-own-fertilizer-using-comfrey/

Best thing ever, Comfrey, you can make a liquid tea with it to use as a water-on fertiliser, put the leaves and stalks on your compost heap or use as a mulch. I grow it on a patch that's not much good for anything else and always get three, or sometimes four, huge crops a year from it.

Before I had my small garden I used a bit of wasteland near one of my dog walks and grew it there, then fetched it home. Just make sure you want it where you put it, once established it's a real task to be rid of it!!!

 

[nic a char]

Isn't going to happen - Its an Urban environment , think small back garden.

"I used a bit of wasteland near one of my dog walks and grew it there, then fetched it home"

 

[Toddy]

My comfrey comes up, blooms and then dies back….all before June's out. I can always find roots, but tops just don't last and don't come up again either until next Spring.
Does it need full sun to come up again and again ?

Urban back garden ? How big is it ? the dalek compost bins are excellent, but a big green trug (£7 in B&Q) with some holes put into the bottom (hot soldering iron) and something used as a lid to shed most of the rain, would do very well. I did it using the green re-cycling boxes for a couple of years.
Excellent to grow spuds in too
You could use one of those pop up round bins though, or just an ordinary black bin with some holes around the bottom.

M