In article .com,
"Dani" writes:
|
| 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.

No. Put it whereever you feel like - out of sight is good. You
can buy green wire "chicken netting" at garden centres, wrap it
round the bin, and plant climbers up it. I do that with my
water butt. Canary creeper, climbing nasturtiums, morning glories,
black-eyed Susan, Eccremocarpus scaber etc. are all good, as they
can be cut down to get at the bin. Even climbing beans and squashes,
but they are a bit big for a small garden!

| 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)

It won't make any difference to that, but raising it is generally
good.

| 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?

If it contains a mixture of kitchen scraps and guinea pig bedding,
it should be fine without being turned over. The critical need is
to prevent it compacting into an airless mass. You may need to
add some water, as the bedding is dry - you want it thoroughly damp
but not saturated.

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

A hot heap breaks down faster, but is more sensitive to ingredients
(i.e. they have to be soft material and the right dampness). Worm
farms are cold and even more sensitive. A cold heap is slower, but
will compost almost anything. A hot heap will turn into a cold one
if there is material that hasn't composted during the initial
bacterial action.

It is unlikely that you will be able to run a purely hot heap if
you include guinea pig bedding, as that is semi-woody. Your mixture
is a very good one, but will take the best part of a year to rot
down. I run a series of definitely cold heaps and they take a
couple of years, but that includes unshredded hedge prunings, bones
and old duvets :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.