Just what do your Darleks eat?

[pippy]

I'm far from an expert at home composting and am slowly discovering things like ....

1)  If you put pumpkin seeds in you will find them sprouting all around the plot next spring!
2)  Ditto small potatoes  :o
3)  Stalks of brussels and broccoli need to be well chopped up
4)  Allowing the childern access leads to some surprising discoveries including small cars and things you had lost  ;D ;D

However I found a discussion on the Guardian gardening page earier abou teabags - apparently many of them don't rot down properly and have plastic in the bag components ?

What I was wondering is what you all put into your compost bins and what discoveries and omissions/additions you have found of benefit over the years .....??

[pippy]

[saddad]

Small sabatiers that have gone missing in the kitchen... "OUCH".
::)

[Eristic]

Strange as it may seem, my compost heaps also produce little kiddie cars and the like plus golf balls. Strange because I do not play golf or indulge with kiddie cars. My compost also produces lots of nice oblong pieces of 3 ply board of an ideal size for gathering leaves. Oops.

[lottie lou]

my missing favourite potato peeler

[Lauren S]

Last spring when I spead the compost over my garden at home I had loads of rogue tomato plants coming up everywhere. Learnt NOT to put the seeds in the compost.  ::)

[asbean]

my missing favourite potato peeler

ditto - several of them  >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

[saddad]

Lauren tomato seedlings are an excellent soil temperature indicator... to know when to plant out tender veg like squash... and easily recognised to weed out!
::)

[Lauren S]

Lauren tomato seedlings are an excellent soil temperature indicator... to know when to plant out tender veg like squash... and easily recognised to weed out!
::)

Wow, I didn't know that, makes sense now you mentioned it...Thanks  :)

[pippy]

Oh yes - I'd forgotten the Tomato seeds!  That's a good tip Saddad.

Last year with high winds in June I lost about half my home grown pumpkin seedlings when I transplanted them.  Then the compost seeds sprouted up so I let a couple grow on to replace the lost ones!!

With tomato seeds, if you only grow one non-F1 type, will the seedlings make good true plants?

[manicscousers]

we got sunflowers, tomatoes and coriander seedlings last year, I potted lots up and transplanted the sunflowers, some of them did better than the ones I'd tended to from seeds  ;D
oh, and we found an old trowel and a pair of secateurs, and they were'nt even ours  ;D
I put t bags in the heap, they seem to go down ok :)

[littlebabybird]

With tomato seeds, if you only grow one non-F1 type, will the seedlings make good true plants?

yes they will, as long as as you said they are not F1 and as long as you grew them in isolation

lbb

[ericelf]

I feed my Darlek the fluff from the tumble dryer filter, hoover contents, I also soak old bills and other confidental paper work in water for 24 hours or more and add the whole lot to the darlek, saves shredding, when him in doors cuts his hair or I groom the dogs I add the hair to it as well, I also  add  the normal kitchen waste, crushed egg shells & tea bags and find they all rot down. Last year my family who are not gardeners thought I was mad making them all traisps down the garden to see my compost heap when I lifted the darlek of..it was a work of art!!!

[ManicComposter]

I put most of our kitchen waste, grass cuttings and shredded paper into my compost bin. Adding the shredded paper helps balance the bin out between the greens and browns.

Do any of you add any activator to your bins? In the summer it is ok because the grass cuttings contain a huge amount of Nitrogen which aids the decomposition process. In the winter things slow down a little so I have started pouring urine onto the bin. It does break things down pretty quickly and its free :)

[cornykev]

Nothing like a good wee in the bin, mind  I've got to aim a bit straighter because I keep missing with half of it and its a nightmare in the wind.  :o     ;D ;D ;D

[saddad]

Welcome to the site Ericelf...  ;D
They don't need much isolation Pippy, you can grow a dozen varietiesin an 8x6' and still get true seeds. Some of the potato leaves and funnies need watching though!  :)

[ericelf]

Thanks for the welcome Saddad. I have been using activator in my dalek but only because it was reduced to 7p in Tescos at the end of the summer last year so I cleared the shelves! I likes a bargain I does.

[manicscousers]

hiya, ericelf, nice to meet you  ;D
we put everyone's hair clippings in the compost, tried using dog and human hair to stop slugs last year, they just climbed over it, obviously not rough enough  ;D
junk mail and cardboard also go in there, must admit though, our daleks are full of rotting leaves, everything else goes in the compost bin  ;D

[flossy]

  What can I add to this     ::)    well, there are the kitchen and toilet roll tubes, torn up,

   Kitchen roll  - only used on non cooked ' wipes ',    loads of tea bags which seem to

   dis sapear,  discarded pot plants - all the usual kitchen refuse --  raw of course !

   Have yet to add raw fish or road kill  [ aka ' blood ,fish and bonemeal ' ]  prefer to buy mine

  ready processed !

  Haven't found those secateurs I lost yet ?

 floss x

[ericelf]

Hi manicscousers good to chat to you all. I have a darlek and a compost bin my son built me out of old pallets. My son used to oblige and pee on the compost heap but had the cheek to move out and I just can't quiet reach myself!!

[littlebabybird]

Welcome to the site Ericelf...  ;D
They don't need much isolation Pippy, you can grow a dozen varietiesin an 8x6' and still get true seeds. Some of the potato leaves and funnies need watching though!  :)

saddad thats the best news i've had all year, thank you
lbb