"Rachel Aitch" wrote in message
...

Tulpa Wrote:
Hi there, can anyone give me ideas for what I can and cannot compost? I
am not putting in meat or fish (Barring prawn shells and bits of
skin).
I try to layer with grass clippings and some cardboard. There are
worms
and the whole thing seems to be settling well. I'm having difficulty
filling it up!

Are there any definate 'No-No's' or should I soldier on as I am? Are
there things I should definately be adding?

Thank you.
From my experience the 'dalek' style of bins are pretty naff as they do not
heat up enough. With them it is the worms that do the work and so it takes
longer.
The best system imho is 2-3 purpose built 'Bins' either wood or breeze block
constuction. My bins are joined together and each compartment is approx. 4'
square. When bin #1 is full fork it into bin #2 then bin #3 and keep the
rotation going. Do it right and you will burn your hand if you stick it into
the heap. That heat is the bacterial action and should be hot enough to kill
any disease and weed seeds. If the weather is particularly wet I cover with
an old piece of carpet.
A compost heap needs water and air and if you add a little topsoil that will
introduce the soil bacteria necessary to turn it into usable compost.
Do NOT add fallen leaves in quantity as they rot down using a different
process and will only retard your heap.
Leaves should be kept separate to be used as leafmould when ready. ( They
rot down by fungal action as opposed to the composting process which uses
bacterial action) Having said that, a FEW leaves won't hurt. hth
Jim