On Jul 14, 12:06*pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Judith in France" wrote in ...
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

So I need to go on an ant hunt? I will definitely try the snails, we
are expecting rain after a very hot and humid day yesterday, so I will
be on the lookout.

Judith