On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 17:41:17 +0100, arthur
wrote:

I want to start composting. I'd be grateful for any advice on the following:

1 Can anyone recommend a good simple book?

2 How important is it to have a mixture of materials: e.g. kitchen
waste, grass, leaves, etc.?

3 I have been wondering about these rotating drums that promise to
produce compost fast
(2 weeks or so) and (more important) without any heavy work involving
my weak back.
Do they do the job well?

Thanks in advance.

People can get terribly hung up and fussy about composting. It's not
rocket science. All you're doing is allowing bacteria to rot down
unwanted vegetable matter. I have a single heap in a corner, that
everything goes onto (weeds, light prunings and shreddings, dead
plants and contents of old flower-pots, kitchen vegetable waste, grass
cuttings etc. etc. Some people also add newspaper and cardboard). When
it gets too big, after about six months or so, I remove the top stuff
as far down as need be to get to the decomposed stuff underneath,
which is then used where needed in the garden. The stuff from the top
then becomes the bottom of the new heap, and so on. The only
concession I make is not to put too many grass cuttings on in too
thick a layer; I mix them in with the top stuff just a bit to stop
them making a slimy wodge.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net