Topic: Collecting compostables in the kitchen??

[NattyEm]

Debs I hope you mean the shells not the slugs!

[Doris_Pinks]

Visions of exploding slugs and a very messy micro!  :P  I make my beer traps out of the top and bottoms of plastic litre bottles! The tube left behind protects individual plants from sluggies!

[Svea]

doris,
do you slide the tops and bottoms together so the slugs have to come in through the hlole and cant find their way out again/drown?
trying to visualise there .....

[diver]

I have a second small sink next to the main kitchen sink, I put a plastic supermarket carrier bag in and shape it to the sink and just chuck stuff in as I am preparing meals. I empty it each day either in the lottie compost or in the garden one....I usually add torn up newspaper so it stays reasonably dry.If it's a bit soggy I put another bag around it. It's my way of recycling the horrible bags.
I leave my eggshells on the kitchen windowsill to dry ,then crush them and put them around the plants; seems to work ok

[Clayhithe]

use as a bin in the kitchen to collect your tea bags, veg shavings and peel etc.

Mrs C has a rubbish bin attached to the back of the under-sink unit door.   The lid opens as you open the unit door.

We bought another and attached it to the door on the other side of the under-sink unit.

Non-organic in one,  compostable in the other.   both are lined with binbags (Sainsbury carrier bags actually).   Don't smell if we empty them often.

[DolphinGarden]

Yeah,

a weetabix box 48 size. Divided by three a day lasts 16 days. In the begining I replaced the box after 16 days (the box living between the oven and sink unit) but when I was tiring of weetabix for brekkie and went to muesli or something that came in a plastic bag I stock piled the boxes and replaced them when necessary.

I cut off the narrow flaps and put them on the bottom of the box, then the wide flaps are fed one into the other via the slit. They go in the bottom of the box too for reinforcement incase soggy tea bags go in first. Evolved to drying teabags a bit first.  My mrs. buys something that comes in a cardboard base, corn, or something, it's late and I can't remember... I put these in the base aswell. Oh yeah, similar to the top of a six pack of eggs, which I put in the bottom for reinforcement, stability and soakage quotient.

My garden is long and it saves me walking in and out, in and out. I have a dalek type outside and it takes forever to fill....and then it rots down again magically. I follow Dave dc Clark's advice from the bbc message board and put newspapers down first, then twigs to keep it slightly off the ground. I worked out well as I emptied it earlier on in the summer and it had a good consistency and was nice and black. Yeah. I was quite happy with it.

Ciaran

Oh yeah, my mother now lives in an apartment and has a small green caddy as mentioned.  When it's full she brings it up to my house and empties it into the dalek. It's always wet and solid like a brick so I have to get my favourite stick and mix it up...

[Vez1]

There is a llittle kitchen compost bin you can get on queenswood products link is www.queenswood.co.uk The bags you put in it rot away in you compost too. Hope this helps.

[redimp]

We use a mini swing bin - about a foot tall.  Works brilliantly.

[wivvles]

Carrier bag hung in the back porch.  Gets taken down every other day, no noticeable smell or insect activity.

[terrace max]

Nappy bucket!

Got a spare now the middle sprog is house trained. If it can contain the smell of nappies it can deal with any compost smells! Got mine from Little Green Earthlets.

BTW - interesting how you can save a stack of money if you can find suitable tackle in non-gardening shops e.g. nappy bucket instead of compost caddy...

[redimp]

We use out Little Green Earthlets Bucket as a pee bucket when we go on holiday.

[katynewbie]

Erm....may have mentioned this elsewhere, saw a suggestion about freezing kitchen bits til you have enough to make a decent layer for the heap. As there is only me it takes a while to get enough stuff together. Am trying this method.....will defrost before adding to heap obviously :) Will update on how successful this is in the future....altho at some point freezer will be full of lovely stuff from the lottie....fingers crossed!!

[Linda]

I use a small pedal bin which has a bucket inside. I line the bucket with a carrier bag, but under the bag, and also inside it, I put a sheet of newspaper, folded, as a nappy. Twice a week, when I go to the allotment, I take the bag, full or not (sometimes I have several - do we eat a lot of fruit and veg?) The nappies are the key as I do not want compost juice all over the inside of my bike carriers!!

Love and compost
Linda

PS I use the 'mayo' type buckets too, to collect compostables from work. No-one on the bus on the way home would have any idea what is in that innocent looking bucket

[redimp]

I am going to start collecting the banana skins that we get with the KS1 Fruit for Kids scheme as I have heard they are excellent for mulching runner beans.

[Roy Bham UK]

May be, but I heard that they also attract rats :o

[dotCompost]

this site talks about BOKASHI to stop it going smelly

http://www.elcrp-recycling.com/bokashi.html

[jennym]

Nappy bucket - no sprogs of nappiable age - so bought a real cheapo plastic version with lid from local store for about £1.25, empty it out about every two days and rinse it with water on the plot, works fine.

[jennym]

Wardy - You've mentioned these mayo tubs before - sounds interesting. Is it a bakery chain (i.e. can you tell us who?) or your local baker?

[jennym]

Thanks, wardy.

[gibbygib]

I use an old teapot that is kept on the work surface in my kitchen.  Doesn't half give guests a shock when they go to make a cuppa.