composting

[Ariel Badger]

I try to compost all my vegetable kitchen waste and any garden waste, I have a shredder but things seem to be rather slow. How well do you compost?
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[Walloper]

Oh Oh I've been waiting years to asked this one on here...

You can speed it up by covering your heap to keep the rain off.
Butyl would be best and put some bricks around the edge to keep it in place. The heap will get hot when it's running properly the heat helps kills off weed seeds.

I turn our heap over once a year to make sure the 'food' gets mixed.

Try to dump from one end to the other which gives you an old 'ready part' and a new 'working part'.

You can put accelerators on which is just the bacteria and stuff that digests the waste.

Try adding a bit of soil to the layers as you pile it.

It can take a few months to get it all working but once it's started you can make savings on the bought stuff. For a wee bit of effort.

If your compost is not rotted down properly it will/may rob nitrogen from the soil you put it on but still provide vital organic fibre. When the compost is ready it will release nitrogen.
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[Ariel Badger]

I cut a load of Pyracantha down over half term and shredded it, at first it warmed up well but since I turned it and added a few gallons of stale urine it has cooled off.
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[oldpink]

add worms (my father in law) had a large garden so composted every thing that wasn't eaten from the garden
his heap was full of rag worms (also great bait for fishing)
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[Walloper]

[Walloper]

[Suntan Sid]

They do!

Without the use of accelerators or the addition of, land based worms, your compost will take 2 years to mature!
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[Ariel Badger]

How stale should stale urine be? I use mine after a week and it has solids at the bottom of the bucket.
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[D O G]

From what I've seen/read, you also need to add 'carbon' sources to it, as well as the nitrogen rich plant matter. So cardboard, newspapers, etc..

This is not based on my experience, but Monty told me so it must be true.

[Walloper]

[Walloper]

[oldpink]

[metalangel]

Right now, waiting for the city to start the service in my building.

In my old house, had a composter in the back yard so didn't use HM Govt's wonderful slop bucket.

Tried to put vegetable and plant waste in but it was mostly grass clippings, plus newspapers and other stuff from the previous occupants that simply had not broken down and the dates on the papers were still legible. Was delighted to find a huge ant's nest inside it one year, which had an early winter (in the form of a 'snowfall' of ant powder).

My parents obsessively separate their food waste, using a plastic bag which they dump into their slop bucket. There is nothing more pleasant than offering to help with the dishes during a visit and being made to scrape clammy, cold chunks of food into a flopping, uncooperative plastic bag
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[andym]

I've only had 1 compost bin in the past, and even at that, I only lived in the place for about 2 years.

In hot weather I could turn the compost bin twice a month, (at times more and still have a good compost layer, (just a 60 litre bin without a base though)....OK I pissed into a 2 litre bottle from time to time and poured it in to the bin when it was full), never really done compost 'heaps' etc... but interesting to know for future reference etc

[Walloper]

[hedgehugger]

I've had a composter on the go for a few years, and at 2 different houses. I kept on insisting we have one, even though the actual composting that was going on seemed pretty minimal, slow to break down, lumpy etc. I got Mr Hedgehugger to pee in it occasionally and tried turning it, to no avail.

This year though my compost has gone mad, in a good way
Since I've been putting coffee grounds in there, it's become worm heaven.
It breaks down so quickly, and I end up with balls of worms everywhere.
So would definitely recommend coffee grounds as an activator, maybe worms are just caffeine freaks

[Walloper]

[hedgehugger]

Castrating worms, why didn't I see that coming?

I suppose they are little !


My chickens hoover them up if they see them

The worms, that is, not their balls

[pepperami]

[Flatbadger]

I have a front 'garden' in pots and have a mini heap in a small black 'recycling' bin which I er.. recycled.

I started it back in the spring with some old, dead compacted soil and a load of pulled up weeds. Now I have some lovely sweet soil always on hand.

No kitchen scraps ever seem to make it in there..

burp.
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[Slacker24seve...]

We had to stop ours after an increase in the local rat population. My terrier and Mk4 Fenn trap are doing a great job of reducing the numbers again though
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[Clanger]

Get your male friends to go out and piss on the compost. But never the women...

If its a wooden composter, cover it with coloured plastic during the autumn/winter periods, don't let it get any light or air...give it a feed before you do this. It will help the material break-down quicker. You can buy kits from most garden centres, and probably lots of places online.

Our compost bin is a plastic container with a lid, so this works perfectly.

To give it a boost, add some compost worms, and don't over-fill it with grass clippings. Remove tea-bags from their bags and add the coffee grounds too.
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[Ariel Badger]

[hedgehugger]

We had rats in ours too. Since they got deadified the compost has improved. Maybe it's because they ate the worms? And now they're gone the worm population has exploded. So maybe my improved composting is due to no rats, rather than coffee grounds. Oooh, I prefer the coffee theory.

I actually bought a "rat-proof" base for ours. The rats just chewed through it.

I have added dead fish from the pond and a bird that flew into the window.