I sent off for a subsidised compost bin in the hope of reducing our
household waste output (kitchen scraps and guinea pig bedding, mostly -
we already recycle as much as we can).

Now it has arrived, it looks enormous in our very small garden, even
though it is the smaller of the two on offer (220 litre size).

I have been reading the archives on this group and becoming more and
more daunted. I have a few specific questions - sorry if they have all
been answered befo

1. Do I really need to put the thing in a sunny spot? It takes up the
whole width of our flower bed, and would have to go in the spot
currently used by a lovely plant that pops up all by itself every
summer.

2. Should I raise it up on bricks to add air? Wouldn't this allow
rats/foxes to get in and fish out the food scraps? We have had our
black sacks opened by both rats and foxes in our garden, so we know
they are around and don't want to attract them (the rats, anyway)

3. If I don't need to get the compost out in a hurry, would it be OK
to just pile stuff and let it rot down slowly, or is turning a
necessity to make it work at all?

4. Can someone explain to me what the difference is between a hot heap
and a cold one?

Thanks for any advice and encouragement you can offer,

Dani
Brighton