Yesterday I made my first compost bins and I started my1st heap this morning.
Don't know if I've gone about this in the right way, but I used a layer of rabbit bedding (straw, newspaper soaked with urine & droppings) followed by a layer of fresh horse manure. I managed to get a bit of height and there will be all sorts of fresh vegetable matter going on from now on.
Will this work ok? Anyone got any ideas how long it will take to have good manure/compost?
TimJ
Looking good Tim. Only thing I would have done differently would have been to keep the manure and the veg separate. I find that the manure is ready long before the household waste has rotted down, so you might find the heap unusable for a longer period. It will of course all make good stuff at the end of the day, but two heaps of these different materials I would have gone for.
Hi Tim, looks a good heap to me (as kenkew said), to speed up things a little more add a watering can full of water to the heap, replace the front pallet, and cover with plastic or carpet, to keep in the heat, after a month turn the heap, and add more waste and water, this will help to build up the temperture.
hope things go well
later
windy
Cheers fellas!
Consider it done Windy!!
TimJ
Don't worry too much about it Tim.
All the books say to add things in layers about 6inches (I think) thick. I just sling things in as they are available. Sometimes it's an ice cream tub full of veg peelings, or a few tea bags, or a couple of buckets full of weeds and soft prunings. It seems to rot down very quickly and well - takes about 3 months, even in winter. And I rarely turn it - only sporadically, when I can be bothered - not every bin is turned even once!
But be warned - it's highly addicitve. Sometimes I think the point of having a garden for me is to fuel my compost heap!
You will need a few. I usually have two - one that is full and rotting down and one that I'm filling. As soon as the first is useable, I use it or bag it up.
Hi
What a lovely site, can I use this as my wallpaper on the computor, for inspirational purposes. I have a new allotment that needs a lot of work - not cultivated for 40 years!!!!!!!! Wish me luck
Lily :)
Looks great! Nice shiny new pallets? :)
I agree with lily, very inspiring.
Envious of your pallets, Tim! The heap looks good and with all that manure I'm sure you're going to have lovely compost.
Quote from: aquilegia on February 28, 2005, 13:38:59
But be warned - it's highly addicitve. Sometimes I think the point of having a garden for me is to fuel my compost heap!
I think Aqui is absolutely right. I don't really have much of a 'composting system' down at my allotment (yet!), but I have two composters on the go at home and a wormery on the way. When you start asking friends and neighbours to donate their veg peelings then you know you've crossed the line... ;)
Thanks for the feedback.....the straw/manure is in 6 " layers and all the vege waste from 2 households will be going onto it from now on!
Lily...please help yourself....I'm shocked that my paltry efforts at a muck heap are worthy of wallpaper 8)...lol....good luck with the allotment Lily it is hard work initially but very rewarding. I keep boring the good folk on here with my piccies as a way of motivating myself to get things done. My next job is 4 plastic water butts arriving next week to go next to my scrounged shed!!
TimJ
PS love to see some pictures :D
Going to re-post the pic of my compost bin here too (first posted it some time last year)
Just so you know you're not the only one taking photos of your compost bin TimJ. Sure my OH thought I was quite mad!
(http://www.craigmarshall.org/photos/allotment/misc/0001.medium.jpg)
LOL Moggle...I know exactly what you mean!!!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/Kenkew/CompoBin.jpg)
Here's my Blue Peter' plan of one I made earlier.
Lovely compost bins peeps :) I would take a photo of my bin but at the mo there is
just a blank space with a slab where my shiny new bin should be. I took advantage
of the cheap compost bin offer via the council and duly paid my dosh for two bins
a big one and a little one. When there was no sight of my luvvery new bins I phoned
the company only to be told they'd been delivered! To whom says I? They have no
idea but aren't too keen on finding them. So I've paid up but no bins. Do I have any
recourse? I paid for these by credit card so could I claim it back if the company doesn't
deliver? The company did not get a signature from whoever they delivered them to.
:(
Quote from: newchangeling on February 28, 2005, 16:18:13
When you start asking friends and neighbours to donate their veg peelings then you know you've crossed the line... ;)
:-\ :-\ :-\ One of my non-gardening neighbours occassionally leaves big black sacks full of prunings, weeds, etc by my back gate for my compost. And I did once think about dropping a leaflet through all my neighbours' doors asking for garden and vegetable waste, but I was worried in case any used chemicals. OK - I admit it - I am a compost addict, as well as a seed addict.
Wardy - if the company didn't get a signature, how can they prove they delivered the bins? I think that's excellent grounds for complaining. Call your credit card company.
Sorry Wardy to hear about your none delivery of the bins. Call the Council again and be very firm about it. They have no proof that they delivered the bins as they don't have a signature. Get confirmation of what address they delivered them to and speak to your neighbours, maybe they have had 2 deliveries instead of one/or a none ordered delivery that may have been returned. If still no responce, get in touch with your credit card company. The credit card would protect you against this sort of thing and they may be able to get your money back. Hope I'm not patronising. But I hate it when people get 'ripped off' like this. Good Luck
Let us know how you get on.
Lily
Wardy,
I agree with Lily, speak to the council again and firmly tell them that you are going to make a complaint regarding credit card fraud regarding your transaction if they don't sort this out immediately.
Good luck, please let us know what happens!!
TimJ