compost heap

I know this may sound silly but i am new to a lot of this stuff. I would like to start a compost heap but only have a small garden so have limited space. How small can i get away with and is it a difficult process, i've read a bit about it but it starts going into activators and whatnot and sounds like a lot of work (not me being lazy i work long hours so time is a bit limited!!) ny suggestions would be great.:cnfs:

 

It needs to be "big enough" that it can generate, and hold, some heat.

The easiest is probably to get a Dalek type compost heap "container". The Local Councils used to subsidise these - but a question about them came up quite recently and I think the consensus was that the scheme(s) had stopped. Worth checking with your council though.

It also depends how much material you have. If you have a 3' square compost bin, but only get a bucket full of material a week, then its not going to work!. You need to be able to fill it - at least occasionally when there is enough material about.

If you just chuck everything in, and leave-it-be, then there are number of possible outcomes:

1. No air gets in - which means you have Anaerobic decomposition rather than Aerobic. A pile of (just) grass clippings tends to do this. Its a slimy mess, but it will make compost. Best avoided if possible. Can happen with ordinary heaps that get saturated.

2. The heap is not a perfect combination of materials. It doesn't really get hot enough. Weed seeds are not killed, and the composting process takes "a while" - maybe a year. The heap is only turned when the moon is Blue! Makes perfectly good compost in the end.

3. The heap is perfect. Fresh, green, material is mixed with suitable "brown" material. The Browns dry out the succulent Greens a bit, may provide some air gaps (e.g. if they are a bit like short sticks). The compost heap is turned often. Maybe an accelerator (chemical - basically something to stimulate the bugs to grow / multiply) is used. The gardener is an expert. Under these circumstances the compost will be ready in a couple of months. The temperatures achieved will be high enough to cook all the bugs, diseases and weed seeds.

I use method (2) because I don't have enough time to molly-coddle them. and I use method (1) for my lawn clippings. Not many people I know manage (3) :thumb:

So, worst case,it will take a while. Once it has completed it is likely that some won't have composted fully - maybe some particularly woody material (Brussels Sprout stems that were not minced up before adding, or just the top 6" of the heap that never got hot and was only added recently). Separate the top / side layers [that are not "done"] off, put to one side, then fish out anything clearly nowhere near ready (the Brussels Sprout stalks!) You can sieve it if you really feel the need. The not-yet-ready stuff can go back in the bin to start the next batch, or be left to one side to mix-in with the fresh greens.

My finished compost is what I would call "rough compost". Its not really beautifully and enviably crumbly. I use it in my greenhouse border mixed 50:50 with rotted farmyard manure. Whatever weeds that come up in the greenhouse are easy to deal with, and the temperature in the greenhouse makes it harder for them to compete with the Tomato plants etc. At the end of the year what is left is REALLY nice, and that then goes on the beds when the next replacement batch is swapped over.

But TBH just putting the rough compost on the beds would be fine. The worms etc. will take care of pulling it into the soil, and breaking it down further. It will open up the soil structure, hold moisture, provide some (not much) nutrients, and the plants will appreciate that.

Don't put in the compost bin:

Faeces from carnivorous pets (herbivore pets are fine)
Cooked meat (attracts rats)
Some say not to put in left over cooked veg. We put ours in.
Material from Diseased plants
Root and seed from pernicious weeds (I ignore this rule, but I am well aware that I am likely to spread them back into the plot)

Some "Dos":

Put the compost bin on bare earth - not on a concrete slab.

Add some fresh animal / chicken manure if you have it - it will compost the manure, and raise the temperature. A layer (a few inches thick) every so often will do.

have a compost bin in the kitchen for all the veg preparation waste and peelings. We tear up cardboard packets, and paper, and chuck them in there too (it provides some of the Browns for the heap)

Add Pee / Wee. Boys said to better than Girls, and probably easier to deliver to the heap! Good accelerator

Cover the heap with a lid - to stop the rain making it soggy, and to keep the heat in. But do add water if the heap is dry.

Turn it if you have time & energy. With a Dalek you can usually just lift the container off, stand it alongside, and then mix the now free-standing heap, and refill into the Dalek.

With wooden bins its better to have two (or more) and when the first full move from A to B. Or dig it all out, and then "shovel" it back in again.

Not really a one-paragraph answer, sorry!

 

I have long coveted a compost-tumbler

 

Hi kimkim,

Have a look in our composting section,

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/composting-and-recycling-f48.html

Theres a few handy tips going down there.

 

I'd add that if you do manage to get a dalek style composter, they do work, although slowly. We have one, had it for several years and for the first couple of years had nothing - then compost suddenly started appearing at the bottom. Ours is in shade, so it probably would work quicker in a bit more sunlight. But...something happens to what we put in. If it didn't, ours would be overflowing now with all the waste we put in...but it's only about half full.

 

Most home composters do not work on hot composting that will kill weed seeds. The Dalek type and anything made using pallets will work on cold composting. To get hot composting you need to do it on a commercial scale. I have seen them do it and they use tractors to turn the stuff, that is the sort of scale.
I use two dalek types side by side. The important thing is to get the mix right. Greens which are kitchen waste and lawn mowings must be mixed roughly 50:50 with browns (shredded paper,torn up cardboard, shredded prunings etc.) I just fill up the bin and you find that the level keeps going down as it decomposes so you rarely fill it to the top. That should last a year and then i fork it out into the second bin and leave it for the fungi to work on the semi decomposed material. Meanwhile i start filling up the first bin again.
I think you need two bins because otherwise you would end up taking out stuff you had only just put in. It takes time. I reckon on something like an 18 month cycle. You put in a lot of stuff that otherwise you would put in the green bin. My main problem is I cannot make enough. Garden compost is much richer than any farmyard manure.

 

Thanks for all the feed back everyone, i have another question though sorry i think you knew it was coming. Seeing as i live on my own do you think maybe a small wormery like a junior one would be better is there a difference as such sorry to drive you all mad!

 

If you can't find very large quantities of compostable material and want to produce compost in the shortest possible time worms are the way to go. I'd suggest that you start with a small wormery as it may well manage your input and it will certainly produce compost for you. Then if you find that it can't keep up with all that you want to add to it move on to a "Dalek" bin (with worms) which should easily handle all the waste from a small garden and single person household.

 

Why heap, get a composter

Hi,

Why don't you get a rotating composter? All you need to do is turn it everyday a few times...job done!

Thanks
David

 

Throughout most of last year and so far this year, I've been trialling my modified council issue green waste wheelie bin.

Used it as it was the first year I was here. It only half worked.

Last spring I drilled lots of breathing holes into it. Small ones up the sides, larger ones for drainage and for bugs to climb into in the bottom. I'm not exaggerating when I say I can't fill it. I put yet another bucket of veg peeling and used tea bags in it yesterday, and it was only about half full. If stuff wasn't rotting I'd say I'd have filled it ten times over by now. I haven't emptied it this year yet, so I have no idea what sort of result i've got, but its looking promising.