"Dani" wrote in message
oups.com...
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).


we sent for one of these too. Massive aren't they :-((


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

no need to apologise on this newsgroup :-))


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.


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)

No. We have these things on soil, half soil and concrete, and concrete and
in ALL of them, the little red worms which do the work for you have found
their way in :-))


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?

No to the first bit and it helps in the second bit. With regards to the
ritual of turning :-(( Do it the easy way ;-) Has the bottom of your Dalek
got a door at the front? Ours has. All you need to do when the fancy takes
you, (once every six months) is to open the door, hook out the bottom 6
inches and chuck it back in on the top :-)) 20 minutes work :-)) After a
couple of goes at this, the stuff is ready for sifting and putting on/in the
garden. (we take ours out by the wheelbarrow load and chuck it on the
borders as a mulch :-)) Keeps the weeds down


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

One's hot the other's cold ;-)) Already been explained to you. If you shred
Marigold Plants and chuck them into the heap/bin, they really get hot, but
by chucking stuff in as and when it comes, it won't get very hot. Still
work, but like watching pain dry ;-)


Thanks for any advice and encouragement you can offer,

The best bit of advice is don't take it too seriously :-)) The bit of earth
you are so serious about now, will still be there when you are 6ft under its
surface feeding the Daisies :-))
Honest :-))

Mike


Dani
Brighton