"Tulpa" wrote in message
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 put in whole hens that die of old age (or fox attack) and they
compost down just fine - the only thing left is the keel bone and the
thigh bones.

Basically anything that has once been a living thing can be composted.
It all turns back into soil eventually.

However, having said that, you may need to ask how to compost whatever
it is you want to compost. I (have) used 3 systems - the traditional
side by side bins, the plastic tumbler types bins and the anaerobic
big sit-on-the-ground with a lid but no bottom type bins.

I hate the side by side bins and have now abandoned them and use them
just to collect stuff to be composted. I hate 'em because they take
too much work. Build it, then turn it and keep turning it is for the
muscularly inclined (which isn't a woman recovering from cancer [or
anyone over the age of 40 with any sense :-)]). The plastic compost
tumblers are wonderful, just remember to tumble every day and sit them
in the sun and water the contents if needed - about 3-4 weeks to
produce compost in hot weather if turning takes place regularly. The
plastic sit on the ground with open bottom types are also wonderful
(and sound like they are the ones you have) but they do take a long
time to produce anything (this type is good to put in hen bodies as
once they get a bit of height up they carcase can be buried). They
are also more soggy contents wise than other types and need to sit in
the sun for best effect (and can attract mice and snakes [the latter
not being a prob in the UK but are here]). Give this type a stir
every now and then but generally just keep topping up and wait for a
year or two and eventually, you'll get good compost material.