[ambodach]

I've got some timber to build a 2 section compost frame, and was just checking around the 'net to look at designs.  I was planning on a 1 metre cube for each box.


I came across a web page that was recommending a 4 section system where the the first was large and for storage of dry material; the second was specified to be 'large' too and where the first stage composting took place including mixing in some of the dry material; the third was smaller and was loaded from 'box 2' when it had composted down to a smaller volume; box four was smaller again and took box 3's contents as it composted down to the final usage point.


Does anyone use such a system ? There was no details on the website and hence no indication as to the relative size of the composting boxes should be and the web didn't come up with any other hits on such a design.


Thanks
Rob

[Fleecewife]

Certainly compost shrinks as it decomposes, and turning from one box into the next helps speed up the process.  You would need to be dedicated and very well organised though to do each stage at just the right time (which I'm not) with your suggested system.  Maybe you are so it would work well.
I have two composting systems.  The first consists of two 'boxes', one for fresh stuff and the second to turn it into for the final stages.  It isn't really enough, so I don't have a storing area until I start to build the heap, but just load it all in at the same time (I tend to produce a lot of material in one go, rather than dribs and drabs continuously, so perhaps a storage area isn't really needed)  For the final perfecting of the product, I either stack it inside the polytunnel, covered with a tarp, until I need it, or use it straight from the second heap.
The second system is more for manure than garden compost and consists of three boxes, each side the dimensions of a big pallet, so larger than one metre.  I stack manure in the first until it's full, then I start on the second.  Both get turned into the third, so it can be exactly the same size as the other two but be well filled.  This I leave until it's well rotted down, then use or perfect as with the garden compost.
 
I find my two systems to be quite flexible and suit my purpose.  They are also cheap to make but work well.  The big drawback I am finding with all the heaps is nettles - grrr 

[Q]

I have 2 x 1meter boxes so that I can turn the compost from on to the other.  I then have a 3rd 1meter box to keep the new stuff i am collecting for the next  compost process.  Then i have a 4th 1 meter box that I use for storing the stuff thats ready. The storage box is usually full by the end of the year because i will have processed 4-6 loads of compost.

I use the berkely method and it works brilliantly so I dont need to import any compost.

[HesterF]

I wish I knew! I have six bins that are 1.3m square and about a metre high. I had lovely plans of having each at the different stage as you describe but to be honest we filled them all pretty quickly, then they all sank a little so topped them all up and have now run out of space again. So now I've got a pile somewhere else for the poultry bedding (which was really what was filling them up which also made for an imbalance) and I just put the kitchen compost and gardening stuff in one of the bins. I've covered the rest in the hope I'll open them up in spring to magically find beautiful compost  . I've also yet to work out how to really turn the compost too - partly because I've got nowhere to turn it into and partly because bins that size are quite intimidatingly large to move around (and I really can't justify buying a front loader just to turn the compost). We've just stuck a fork in and stirred it occasionally - to the consternation of the mice that live there (clearly not as hot as it should be!).

I also had somebody bring over a few loads of horse manure/bedding in the spring to rot down so at the moment that's what I'm using before I investigate whether anything else it ready. I'm hoping all the answer you get will make life easier here too!

[Fleecewife]

HesterF  you could try emptying the middle bin onto the ground, then turning the other two into that one then piling back the first one on top.  As you do it, put the less well broken down stuff in the middle and add some urine if you have some volunteers.  This will make it all heat up again and finish the rotting process.  If it's too dry for the urine to really wet it, we have used manky pond water from our duck pond to speed things up - worked a treat.  The work seems initially daunting, but if you do one bin a day, especially if there's more than one of you, you will get through it.  Even though I am distinctly decrepit, I have turned a whole bin (mine are a similar size to yours but maybe deeper) in one afternoon.  We have tried a front loader and it does do the job, but makes an awful mess of the ground.
Then fill a second bin with fresh material, until it's piled high.  Once you start on the third bin, leave the other newly filled one to rot down with no further addition.  It's best to empty out the original bin, which now contains the contents of three bins, before you need to turn the others.

[Q]

Hesterf
If I just leave the compost without turning then the centre of the pile turns to compost but the outer edge doesnt. That means to use it I have to separate it a bit.
Turning it gets some air in it and mixes it all through. You really can get compost in 4-6 weeks with the right combination.
Because it compacts as it composts then you would find your storage bin can take 4-6 loads of compost.

If you are short of space then processing it quicker (creating smaller volume in the finished compost) should help.

[suziequeue]

I have two areas both of which are about two pallets long and one pallet wide which I can fill to a depth of 1.5 metres.


One of the areas I add to from October to October each year. Then, when it is full I turn it into the other area and cover it for another year after having cleared the compost that was in the second area onto the polytunnel beds just before.


I use that as and when I need it to mulch and prepare beds etc over the winter and early spring. Anything not used by the spring gets left in the polytunnel.


Yes - the compost only gets turned once a year but we can do it with the tractor and it ends up as beautiful stuff and I am not in any great hurry.


Other stuff such as pig poo and mixed wood chip and grass cuttings - we tend to store in dumpy bags

[Spinningfishwife]

I had two sets of three bins on the allotment, made of pallets wired together (approx. one cubic meter) and sheets of cardboard to line them. When I needed to turn a heap it was easier to take the wall down between two bins and flicking the pile over with a fork into the empty space rather than dig and lift it. When the pile had been turned through all three bins I'd bag it up for keeping if I didn't intend to use it straight away. I also had a couple of builders rubble sacks for storing material that was destined for the compost bins. I made a lot of compost on the plot, I didn't have ready access to any great quantity of manure unfortunately. This was the most streamlined method I could come up with given that I wasn't up to a lot of heavy digging and lifting.

[Lesley Silvester]

I have five bins made from pallets tied together with baler twine. I fill them all in order, adding kitchen waste some bits from the garden as I go. They then get left alone. By the time number five is filled, number one is quite well rotted. As I only have a garden to use it in, I give most of it away and offer it on Freecycle as part rotted. I now have my regulars come for it. They dig it out, bag it up and take it home where it is turned out into compost bins so is well turned by then.


Meanwhile, my goats, who seem to hate the sight of an empty manure bin, are busy producing more to start the process all over again.

[ScribbleUk]

We had a single large bin full to the brim which I have been gradually emptying out over the last few weeks.  It is full of great compost but has been too big to access and turn easily.  So we're in the process of replacing it with smaller pallet sized bins that we'll build and fill as we go, and then return to the original in a years time - a very slow production line effect.

Would love to figure a way of getting some of the chickens to earn their keep by helping to turn over and contribute to the compost pile.