"Judith in France" wrote in message
...
On Jul 13, 7:09 pm, "Spider" wrote:
This weekend I sieved through the contents of one of my compost bins and
gained a huge quantity of the most glorious crumbly compost. I am so smug,
it's painful! I have three other bins which are ready, so I'm going to be
impossible to live with this week :~)).

The bins are simply ex-dustbins, upended or well-holed. I put in a good
variety of materials, mix them (but not *that* often) and add water only
rarely if the contents seem dry. They are cold heaps, although they get
quite hot in summer, so they've taken about 9 months to produce this
really
splendid stuff.

I just need some rain now, so I can spread it as mulch. Might just as well
let the worms finish the job :~)

Spider

Spit, I'm jealous, my 2 bins look as if they are going very slowly
despite the contents of... er.. ehm, bladders :-)

Judith

I stopped doing that ... the neighbours got pi**ed off! :~)
Have you tried adding pests to your bins? I put in snails (*not* slugs),
woodlice and, if needs be, ants. They really break it down well. I add an
ant or two (oodles more soon join them), plus something sweet, and let them
get on with it. They generally disappear by the end of the season, but you
can make them disappear by thoroughly wetting the compost, which they hate.
However, I didn't need to employ them last season as things were cooking
along nicely.

All these creatures naturally break down organic material, so are good
'ingredients'. Although I tried slugs, they simply refuse to eat themselves
to death, so they persist and are generally unpleasant :~(. Snails chomp
away for a while but, by the time I empty my bins, they are just empty
shells. These are good for cane toppers.

Spider