[goosepimple]

You need to wee on it Dans - easier if a man does it of course    - uria helps 'bite' into things and break them down quickly.  Introduce some worms too, they will help break things down and create air tunnels which is good.  Good compost is most satisfying 
 
Pallets from most factories around your area - or if you see a building site they would probably have some from brick / cement bag deliveries, might even deliver them to you for a couple of monies.
 
Enjoy your muck.

[Dans]

I hadn't been putting in cooked things that I realised. But may have been inadvertantly. Had been putting bread (didn't think about it having been cooked), waste from making hawberry sauce and various wines. So they may have been attracting the slugs and  messing with the mix.

We have an industrial estate down the road, and will be going to the garden centre next week for the tree (hoepfully) so will hit both of those places. Thank you all I really had no idea where to look.

Lots of websites around with ideas for pallets too Fowgill. Also seem to be a fair few websites suggesting upcycling pallets are dangerous (disease and chemicals used to treat wood), but they do seem to be mostly USA.

Dans

[Fowgill Farm]

. Also seem to be a fair few websites suggesting upcycling pallets are dangerous (disease and chemicals used to treat wood), but they do seem to be mostly USA.

Dans

Have to admit they don't half burn well when damaged ones are added to the bondi so they must be sprayed with preservative.
mandy

[Dans]

[/quote]
Have to admit they don't half burn well when damaged ones are added to the bondi so they must be sprayed with preservative.
mandy
[/quote]

I probably wouldn't use them for things like beds or tables, anything that will contact food prior to eating or baby things (saw one thing for a cot). But have not been put off using them for garden things as of yet, though I'm learning new things everyday!

Dans

[RUSTYME]

Mens pee is better than ladies , but don't use if the person is on any meds . About 90% of meds go through the body untouched , the main one in women is the pill , take care !
The same goes for stable manure etc . Horse wormers you don't want on the veg bed !
Worms will find their own way into the heap , but if you do add any do it after the heap has heated and cooled , otherwise they will just get cooked .

[Dans]

Ah that makes sense. Will convince the OH to provide the pee, he's fit as a fiddle!

Didn't think about wormer. Will have no idea if the stable manure will have wormer in it.

Worms is one of the few things our garden is great at!

Dans

[RUSTYME]

Drugs and chems are a nightmare Dans . Farm manure can have antibios and all sorts of chems/drugs you don't want on your veg bed and thus in your veg ! You just have to ask where it comes from , and i don't mean the horses or cows bum ! lol .

[Ina]

Don't know about your council, but ours had the large green plastic compost bins on offer, too (much cheaper than through normal trade, and at least they are made from recycled plastic). They provide the necessary critical mass for compost making. So if you want something that looks more "civilised"  than pallets, or you can't get pallets, it might be worth having another look out for that. I opted for the green daleks because it all needs council's approval in a council house... (They can't have anything against what they themselves sell! Where I lived before I had a pallet construction - perfect.)

What I do is fill one bin over the year, and in spring empty it into my newest raised bed. This will provide growing space for anything that can deal with fresh compost, i.e. courgettes, pumpkins etc. The year after it'll be fine for onions and other stuff... I then start filling the now empty bin and leave the other in peace to break down. Usually I leave the top off for more air and some moisture, but put the lid on in periods of heavy rain.

I now have two large green bins on the go, plus an old black one (I agree, they are useless) for anything that I don't want to use too soon - weeds and other stuff that'll take longer to break down into harmless matter... And daggings really are fantastic in the garden - I have them mixed into the compost as well as mulch for fruit trees and bushes!

[oor wullie]

Lots of websites around with ideas for pallets too Fowgill. Also seem to be a fair few websites suggesting upcycling pallets are dangerous (disease and chemicals used to treat wood), but they do seem to be mostly USA.

Pallets should have a code on them, usually a ear of wheat symbol and some letters and numbers.  You should see a country code (eg UK) showing where it was manufactured but most importantly the last 2 letters tell you how it was treated.

All pallets are treated (mostly to ensure that any bugs or diseases in the wood are killed and not spread everywhere the pallet goes), in the US they tend to use chemicals to do this, in Europe it tends to be done with heat.  If the pallet is stamped HT is means heat treated and should be chemical free.  Not sure what the codes are for chemical treatment but I rarely see anything that isn't heat treated.

[Womble]

That's a really useful tip Wullie. Many thanks!

[Sylvia]

Animal manure is good in the compost bin as long as the animal hasn't been chemically wormed recently and there has always been controversy over whether male pee is useful and female's not. Mine(if anyone wants to know ) is diluted with water and poured carefully over any straw etc. in the bin.
In fact just straw and pee if you had nothing else would break down beautifully.
My compost bins are just four pallets tied together with my sisters' old tights!
The secrets you divulge on here

[deepinthewoods]

That's a really useful tip Wullie. Many thanks!

seconded! cheers.

[Lesley Silvester]

I got pallets from our local builders' yard.  They burn a lot of them.  Manure is a good accelerant.

[MAK]

Jo Jacobs - Build it with pallets.  £6.99 from Amazon.
You will need a pallet stripping bar too. fantastic tool from Cargo Cycles

[Fleecewife]

Jan '13 Kitchen Garden magazine, out now,  has a 'how to build a compost heap' feature.  Their one is made with bought wood but could easily be made from dismantled pallets