The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Gardens => Topic started by: bloomer on October 15, 2014, 01:23:40 pm
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ok i am up to speed with the basics of home made compost...
i have 2 1metre cubed spaces available built out of old scaff planks the fronts are removable for easy turning, the plan is when box A gets full to turn it into box B and start filling box A again and hope B is ready to use before A is full again...
i have plenty of chicken mess on auboise bedding (rots well) that is the base of it and green garden waste goes in as well, we are just starting to separate our kitchen waste into compost/non compost, we're lucky in fife they take all kitchen waste for recycling, but we want to keep the good stuff back for ourselves.
so my question is what are the good/bad things to look for avoid in kitchen waste for composting??
i know all aliums are bad as is citrus peel anything else i should be aware of?
if i compost potato peelings am i just going to get a million rogue potato plants???
can you tell all my previous composting has been garden waste only...
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I compost all raw bits of fruit and veg, egg shells, tea bags, fire ash, plain cardboard and tubes etc. giving it a quick stirr into the chicken waste layer and garden waste which is usually thicker than the household waste layer.
The only thing I don't use is potato peeling as we did end up with a load of plants starting up around the edges of the heap inside the walls.
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One problem with potato peelings is the storing up of disease, like scab or more seriously blight.
Not a problem if you're not going to use the compost on potato beds, but we do so to be safe put potato peelings in the food waste bin, not the compost.
No meat or meat waste, no fat, and only compost cooked veg if it's unadorned. We do compost citrus peelings, but don't eat a whole lot so in the scheme of things it's a tiny proportion of our bins.
With good air circulation, sufficient moisture and regular turning the odd mistake in what you compost won't ruin it. It's a bit like a bad haircut - time and a little attention fixes most problems. :)
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Rats!
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dobby :-)
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Well Rio does a pretty good job too - what about your cats? :innocent:
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too old or fat!!!
chickens also do a number on rats...
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I think I have rats at the front - no duck eggs for months. Keeping them in tomorrow till noon to test them. I think we may find nests under the duck shed you'll be moving to take the tree down. :innocent:
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We have two compost heaps
One gets used in the Polytunnel, so that gets all the kitchen waste plus some bedding from the chicken coop (the rest goes on the muck heap).
The second is just for getting rid of nasty stuff like cat litter and things the cat dragged in. It's in an area of the garden well away from anywhere we'll ever grow things. The idea is that that pile can take as long as it wants to rot down, and we'll never use the result for anything - it's just for reducing what we send to landfill. We also put potato peelings in there, to be on the safe side.
I did see a nice system once that you might want to consider Bloomer. There were three open fronted square bins next to each other (could be made from pallets), with adjustable retaining planks across the front of each. The idea was that compost was turned over from chamber A => B => C, and was then ready for use in the garden. However, the open front meant that the hens could get in and scratch about in there for bugs, which accelerated the composting.
I heard a Gardners Question Time once where the panel were asked "What's the difference between good compost and bad compost?" The reply was "There's no such thing. Either it's good compost or it's not compost at all!"
I have three quesitons for you all though:
1) Eggshells - yes or no? Ours never really seem to break down properly, so we end up with lovely compost with bits of shell right through it. Is this still a good thing, or is it just making a mess?
2) Covered - yes or no? I've read that heaps should be left so the rain can get at them to keep them moist. However, I've also read that this washes all the nutrients out of the compost. What do you all do?
3) Does anyybody use a Green Cone (https://www.greatgreensystems.com/green-cone)? Does it actually work, or is it just a magnet for vermin?
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I give the egg shells a quick crush before putting in the compost pot in the kitchen. I think it helps with drainage and will eventually turn to crumb.
On the open or closed debate I think heavy rain probably does wash nutrients out if the heap is open to the elements permanently so I keep ours covered but lift the cover off if the contents look a bit dry and rain is forecast.
Don't really know if there is a right or wrong :thinking:
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1. Yes to eggshells.
2. We cover our compost bays (made from pallets) with a square of black plastic. There's always a corner sticking up, or the odd occasion when it slips off, so they seem to get enough moisture.
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This is probably a stupid question,
Should the compost be on bare ground or a concrete floor? I'd have thought bare ground but DH's father built a compost area with a concrete bottom so that all the good compost 'juices' didn't run off into the ground.
Which is best and why?
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all my garden only ones have been on bare ground to allow worms etc up into the compost to aid the process...
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all my garden only ones have been on bare ground to allow worms etc up into the compost to aid the process...r
Mine too :thumbsup:
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I've got plastic cooncil ones - one on gravel, one on grass - no difference that I can see.
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Look up " the berkley 18 day hot composting method for a real good read of what you can and can't compost.
I have seven of the council Dalek type lidded composting cones about 1920 mtrs from the house in the garden area .. Mine are on smooth floated concrete for ease of turning one bin into another , working and for general keeping me and the area clean as weeds don't grow very well through six inches of concrete .
It is a godsend in foul wet weather and as I have PIR flood light over the area dark winter night are not a problem .
To aerate the bins to give the useful bacteria & fungi a lot more oxygen for a better composing action and retention of as much of the dried juices as possible , I simply rock the Dalek back and forth till it loosens and the drag it up & off the pile .
Then it's a simple matter of slice off the outer sides ,drop that in to the middle of an empty Dalek and then add the remainder so that what was the outer edges is fully covered to enable you to rot down or kill all pernicious weeds & seeds. if you use a spray hose and damp the contents down as you rebuild this helps bring the internal temp up to about 150 oF for a few days on the first turning . subsequent turnings see the temp upper range diminish so that by the 18 day there will be an internal temp of just a few degrees above the ambient temperature.
One you get a pile in the 18 day cycle don't add anything other than the water spray as you rebuild the heap .
Compost made by the 18 day hot composting method is a fantastic well balanced material that can be stored for a couple of years in sealed poly sacks . If left in the Dalek the local worms will find their way in to it and consume it , turning the 18 day compost in to worm cast substance or a compost with a high worm cast content ..
This is magic stuff to use in your gardens both for flowers and for veg.
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what about shredding all the potato plants before composting? I'm thinking of buying a plastic compost bin, as the old compost bin has fallen to pieces, literally.