Allotments 4 All

Just a few questions...

I'm planning on getting one of the subsidised compost bins from the council but am I better getting two - one to use and one to top up? I have space at the top of the driveway that I can keep two if need be.

One other question about composting - how do you do it lol? I've got a rough idea how it works but are there any good guides on the net explaining what I can and can't put it, how to look after it and how long things take to break down?

Thanks for bearing with me - I'm very new to gardening but am enjoying learning as I go along. I'm just in the process of planning my garden for growing my own fruit and veg next year but am keen to reuse/recycle as much as I can - hence the composting.

Shona :)

http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/index.html

is a good place to start.

You are best having more than one if you can.  One will be rotting whilst the other is ready to use.  Click on the government website above for most answers to your questions on making and using homemade compost.

Thanks for the quick replies - the government website is exactly what I was looking for. Definitely going to try and get two if I can work out where to put them.

Thanks again :)

Hi Shona

The compost bins are neat, and for home use I can see that might be good, but you can't beat four pallets tied together with string.  Gardeners want humus from their compost and that needs aerobic composting - lots of oxygen.  Turning a heap in a slatted pallet bin is ideal.  The plastic compost dustbin doesn't let the air in so you tend to get more anaerobic decomposition and that process eats the humus that you're trying to make.

I don't think it can be anaerobic because there's no smell, and numerous invertebrates, along with the occasional rat, manage to breathe quite happily in my bins!

The proverbial council daleks. The little holes in front are totally useless for getting out compost. We have several of these on the allotments and find that the best way to empty them is to rock them loose lift the plasic off and the bit of unrotted stuff on the top, use to 'start' the next load with a good shovel or two of well rotted manure.

They do get very hot and yes the rats build nests in them as do ants. I would never have one any where near my house.

Moriati's infamous Daleks are a total waste of space and only suitable for Dr. Who fans.

Quote from: Eristic on August 10, 2009, 02:18:59
Moriati's infamous Daleks are a total waste of space and only suitable for Dr. Who fans.

Lol. Wish I'd read this a few weeks ago....never mind. We are buiding a big one with pallets as well.

Dunno about the moriarti version, but I wouldn't be without mine!

I have six council daleks on the go, and have some lovely compost.
Shonam you can mix loads in your compost bins.
Fruit and veg peelings
Shredded junk mail, not shiny stuff
Shredded or scrunched up newspaper
Shredded bills
Toilet and kitchen roll tubes
Grass cuttings
Leaves
Flower cuttings
Hedge clippings
Egg shells
Tea bags
Rabbit or hamster bedding
Coffee grounds
Sawdust
Twigs
Hoover bag contents
Hair
Cold ash
Weeds- non perennial
Nettles
Straw
Wee
I could go on but I'm boring myself.
:-X     ;D ;D ;D

Thanks for all the replies. I do prefer the idea of the plastic ones as I prefer the look of them, although I have been looking at the slightly more expensive mottled green ones - less Dalek like lol.  I think they seem a bit easier to access at the bottom as they are square and the whole bottom section can be opened, rather than just the flap like the black ones.

I didn't realise I could compost rabbit bedding - that's good to know - thanks cornykev. :)

Quote from: Hector on August 10, 2009, 08:19:20

Quote from: Eristic on August 10, 2009, 02:18:59
Moriati's infamous Daleks are a total waste of space and only suitable for Dr. Who fans.

Lol. Wish I'd read this a few weeks ago....never mind. We are buiding a big one with pallets as well.

I too have six.  Get used to Eristic - only he is right all the time and everybody else is only ever right when they agree with him.

I had 2 of the black ones & made lovely compost in them which included guinea pig bedding. At the plot OH built 2x1m ones but that was earlier this year so can't compare yet. At home we got one of the green hexaganol ones from recyclenow. It was full & has been ignored as all composting is being taken to the plot. I had a look at the weekend & it looks amazing stuff.

Much like Cornykev I would use all that I can with the composting, the more the merrier. No cooked or oily stuff as vermin love this. I have had good returns with the amount of compost and it smells of earth with a sweet aroma to it. Black gold is hard to perfect and if we all try then I think the returns from using it will benefit us all in time.

I have two dalek style ones and a large pallet one.

The dalek ones I've filled up with sods off the plot (that's sods of earth, not unruley allotmenteers).  One is filled to the top and has a lid on it, the other is filled to around 2ft from the top.  I then put in 1.5ft of compost, sprinkled with carrot seed and I've got wonderful carrots growing long, tall and completely un carrot flied.  I'll leave the other to 'rot' down (in essence, the couch grass thats in the sods of earth rot off, then I can use the perfectly good top soil).  Next year I'll use the 2ft of that and the whole of the carrot bin to fill up my raised beds where required.

The pallet one is where the magic happens.  Everything goes on that bar potatoes because they keep on sprouting and you can never get rid of the blighters.  I've never bothered to turn it, I add a few bags of free local manure sometimes, odd bit of veg clippings but mainly just sods of earth where I'm digging over something or cuttings/clearings/clippings.

Every year my fellow allotmenteers tell me I'm not doing it right

Every year I get wonderful rich crumbly compost.

The secret seems to be stack it high and disturb it as little as possible and let the creepy crawlies and bacteria etc do their magic.  They've been doing it millions of years before we started mucking around with things and they'll be here millions of years after we've gone.  I should point out though my drawback is that I rarely actually use it during the year and my method is not quick, but I don't need it to be.

Sounds like an excellent use of "Daleks" do yours have the silly flap near the bottom?  :-\

No we were given three daleks with no holes in the side - carrots grow really well in them and you can fleece easily over the top, or alternatively if you know you're going to get a cold snap overnight you can pop down, stick the composter lid over the top (as the follage when they're young doesn't tend to be over the lid level).  They're protected!

I've done this for my 2nd year, rarely water even in the height of summer (maybe once a week or so) and seem to get excellent results.

When I was growing in the ground, I never got anything like the crop I get now!

I am absolutely hopeless at making compost.  The bin ends up with a nasty mess.  But the beans and courgettes do not seem to mind on little bit.  I just dig holes and bury it in the spring.

Silly flap keeps falling off.  I just lift the whole thing off and start again.  I keep filling it up and its still only half full.

Dalek heaving in slugs. 

sounds like it's too moist as no doubt you know.  Just fill a bucket up with soil beside the door and add a trowel full or two when adding the same volume of veg.  It'll fill up quicker, but you'll get less slimey mess and less flies.

I just dump stuff on mine, it's open to the air so the top dries off a bit quicker.  The plastic daleks just seem to retain moisture on the top where it's not needed.

Currently I'd cover the top over with soil and leave the lid off.  Then just keep adding to it but as I say, leave the lid off.