Topic: Kitchen Composter

[1066]

Hi, I'm considering getting a composter to take the food scraps. has anyone else tried them and have they been successful and are there any problems with them? The council is doing what seems to be a good deal on them -
http://www.escc.getcomposting.com/Shop/Composters.html

Thanks
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[Kendy]

I have 3 of the 'Daleks' - one on my garden at home and two on the lottie.  They work great - just need to keep turning the contents with your fork.  Make sure you put in a good variation including browns (cereal boxes, egg boxes, shredded paper etc).

The kitchen caddy is worth getting especially with the liner bags.  I used to use a cut off 2 litre plastic milk carton but it would smell after a couple of days and need constant emptying into the dalek.

[1066]

Thanks Kendy, the 1 I'm looking at uses this "Bokashi " stuff, which seems pretty expensive, I can imagine going through a bag of that stuff fairly quickly. Do you use this with the daleks or just in the kaddy thing?
Thanks
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[GRACELAND]

 ;)

I have 3 also find i fill them up alot Might need another

But there very good

Soon rots down to a usable matter

Even as a mulch   :D

[1066]

Thanks.
Having read the blurb on the county council's website it says that you can either trench the stuff or put it onto your compost bins along with all the normal garden waste, I was thinking the last one makes a "Heap" of sense  :D. I also just checked out other suppliers and they are wanting over £60  :o in comparison to the councils £20. Its the price of this Bokashi  stuff which puts me off, but then I suppose the bonus is even more compost to use on the plot next year  ;D

[Baccy Man]

You can make your own bokashi bran to minimise costs.

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,37427.msg376685.html#msg376685

[Kendy]

Don't use Bokashi (whatever that is).   Normal mixture of compostable materials is all you need - although I sometimes throw in a handful of organic manure/fertiliser stuff.

[GRACELAND]

Don't use Bokashi (whatever that is).   Normal mixture of compostable materials is all you need - although I sometimes throw in a handful of organic manure/fertiliser stuff.

I agree Kitchen waste(not meat or cooked stuff ) some paper  pet litter ie rabbits hamsters rats mice , can go in mixed with weeds (not seeds)from garden and mixed in grass cutting soon rots down

lovely stuff  ;D

[Kendy]

Re Bokashi.

Just been reading the other thread on it - learn something new everyday.  Not sure I'm ready to go down that route yet and it would need me to research it a bit more but interesting.

[Baccy Man]

Don't use Bokashi (whatever that is).   Normal mixture of compostable materials is all you need

For a regular composting method thats true but for the 'kitchen composter' which is designed to deal with meat, fish, cooked foods etc... in addition to the normal kitchen scraps the bokashi bran is an essential part of the process.

[1066]

Baccy Man, thanks for the great link, bookmarked now! I feel a bit more confident about going ahead with it now.
For other info here's a link about the do's and don't of the kitchen composter - http://www.evengreener.com/Pages/Kitchen_Composter_Guide.html

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[caroline7758]

This thread has reminded me that my local tesco (York) had Bokashi composters at half price last week (12.50 instead of 25 quid) -might be worth a look.

[artichoke]

Can I put in a word for the Green Cone, also heavily subsidised by many councils (down to about £12 when I bought it)? Mine has taken in all the meat and fish waste I have thrown into it for three years, which is a lot.

 It doesn't make compost as such, it just allows it to decompose slowly and keeps rats etc out. It is supposed to leak "nutritious juices" so I have planted it under my apple tree.

The expensive bit is some dust in a jar, said to be bacteria to aid decomposition, but I am so stingy with it the first small jar is not empty yet.

I don't really want something composting away in my kitchen - it's bad enough keeping the compost bucket under the sink before taking it out to the dalek (also very effective and subsidised - known locally as The Rother Rotter).

My goodness, I have just noticed Green Cone is down to £5 now!

http://www.tandridge.gov.uk/RefuseandRecycling/Recycling/Howtoreducewaste/greencones.htm

[1066]

Can I put in a word for the Green Cone, also heavily subsidised by many councils (down to about £12 when I bought it)? Mine has taken in all the meat and fish waste I have thrown into it for three years, which is a lot.

Course you can! I looked at the green cones but thought that I'd prefer to have something to show for all my efforts i.e. some compost and not just liquid.
And I'll be able to keep the composter(s) outside the kitchen (the joy of a coal hole) so won't have to find room or deal with any smells. I was also considering the Green Johanna, which is also subsidised, but think I'd be better off just using my normal compost heaps and using the kitchen composter.

Ah the Rother Rotter - thats dreadful ;D
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[Hector]

Interesting....does it (bokasi) do something different to what a worm bin does?

[1066]

In simple terms I think the answer is yes. But you get a different kind of liquid/fertiliser/compost. Just had another look at the council's website / links and got this info -

"What Is A Wormery ?
A Wormery is a plastic or wooden container that contains composting worms.
A compost worm differs from a normal garden worm in that it eats and lives on the decaying foods on the surface, whereas a garden worm burrows deep into the ground
A Wormery is easy and fun to use, simply add your worms then your waste food, and after a few months your worms will have eaten it all and left behind a fantastic fertiliser called vermicompost, which is very high in nutrients.

Fern green in colour it has a large surface area this allows you to add more food, in a thinner layer.
Having food spread thinly over the top allows it to compost down faster, and keeps your worms happy and therefore create a more productive wormery.
Our Wormeries are designed to slide inside each other. This ensures that the upper trays are constantly resting on the material in the lower trays, allowing free movement for the worms (As your worms eat the food, it is reduced in volume when being converted to vermicompost. "

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