grr !! Monty Don perpetuating compost myths ....
 

If it isn't bad enough that town councils won't accept sprout peelings
because they "may have shared a kitchen with a ham sandwich "....

If it ever lived it can and should be composted !
Including _me_ if i can arrange it :-)

To me it's a bit like all those people who reckon that Internet Explorer
installed a virus or spyware all by itself and you really should use this or
that alternative clunky software ....

..

gentlegreen wrote:
If it isn't bad enough that town councils won't accept sprout
peelings
because they "may have shared a kitchen with a ham sandwich "....

If it ever lived it can and should be composted !
Including _me_ if i can arrange it :-)

To me it's a bit like all those people who reckon that Internet
Explorer installed a virus or spyware all by itself and you really
should use this or that alternative clunky software ....

Sorry, I missed the programme. What did he actually say?

--
Mike.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...
gentlegreen wrote:
If it isn't bad enough that town councils won't accept sprout
peelings
because they "may have shared a kitchen with a ham sandwich "....

If it ever lived it can and should be composted !
Including _me_ if i can arrange it :-)

To me it's a bit like all those people who reckon that Internet
Explorer installed a virus or spyware all by itself and you really
should use this or that alternative clunky software ....

Sorry, I missed the programme. What did he actually say?

--

Oh the usual thing - "cooked scraps attract vermin" (shock horror) ....

Maybe it's because I live in the city - aware that I share the planet with
rats ... even had one sneak in through rotten woodwork a few years back -
now fixed. It ended up in my compost bin once I'd lured it to a trap with
cooked squid and finished it off with a hammer - went in whole - no sign of
it a year later.

The rats round my way are spoilt by a plethora of excellent takeaways - my
furry squatter only ever visited me for shelter - it used to nip out for
dinner

I'm not an extremist - I have no plans (or the room) for a composting
toilet, but I come out in a rash at the thought of putting anything organic
in the dustbin.
My plastic, council-subsidised plastic composter is next to the wheelie bin
out by the front gate - it gets everything from kitchen roll to fish guts
which depending on conditions are processed by worms, fungi, bacteria and
who knows what else ....

There's no evidence of anything mammalian sneaking in.

[/vent]

gentlegreen wrote:
If it isn't bad enough that town councils won't accept sprout
peelings
because they "may have shared a kitchen with a ham sandwich "....

(snip)

Sorry, I missed the programme. What did he actually say?

Oh the usual thing - "cooked scraps attract vermin" (shock horror) ....
Maybe it's because I live in the city - aware that I share the planet with
rats ... even had one sneak in through rotten woodwork a few years back -
now fixed. It ended up in my compost bin once I'd lured it to a trap with
cooked squid and finished it off with a hammer - went in whole - no sign of
it a year later.

Yurk! That's amazing. I've burried our hamster 19 months ago and by
accident we dug it up to find hair and bones still pretty much there!
Weird rat your rat! Sure it was a rat? ...

But what monty said was not to put any meat in the compost and that's
very much something zillions of other gardeners do. And so do I. It's
simply not a good idea. Cooked veg can go in there too.

"La puce" wrote in message
oups.com...

gentlegreen wrote:
If it isn't bad enough that town councils won't accept sprout
peelings
because they "may have shared a kitchen with a ham sandwich "....

(snip)

Sorry, I missed the programme. What did he actually say?

Oh the usual thing - "cooked scraps attract vermin" (shock horror) ....
Maybe it's because I live in the city - aware that I share the planet
with
rats ... even had one sneak in through rotten woodwork a few years back -
now fixed. It ended up in my compost bin once I'd lured it to a trap with
cooked squid and finished it off with a hammer - went in whole - no sign
of
it a year later.

Yurk! That's amazing. I've burried our hamster 19 months ago and by
accident we dug it up to find hair and bones still pretty much there!
Weird rat your rat! Sure it was a rat? ...

But what monty said was not to put any meat in the compost and that's
very much something zillions of other gardeners do. And so do I. It's
simply not a good idea. Cooked veg can go in there too.

Yep - definitely a rat - had to bash his brains out with a hammer - but as I
say it went into my red hot compost bin so was quickly dealt with by mother
nature.

As to the meat thing, I was vegan for 20 years but the past 2 I've been
experimenting with fish and I always make a point of gutting them myselves
so I can add them to my compost. Since I have a security camera and PIR lamp
I would know if there was any live rat activity.

Zillions of gardeners CAN be wrong ;-)

http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache...++meat&hl=e n

"gentlegreen" wrote
snipped
Zillions of gardeners CAN be wrong ;-)


We are always told to put on loads of stuff at the same time to raise the
temperature of the compost heap...... but how do you do that when you only have
a very small garden with not much waste, and there's only two of you, so not
much veggie waste either?

Jenny

"JennyC" wrote in message
...

"gentlegreen" wrote
snipped
Zillions of gardeners CAN be wrong ;-)


We are always told to put on loads of stuff at the same time to raise the
temperature of the compost heap...... but how do you do that when you only
have
a very small garden with not much waste, and there's only two of you, so
not
much veggie waste either?


I should be ashamed really to be throwing away quite so much food :-(

I actually make fairly rubbish compost at the moment - my compost bin is
probably more of a worm bin. My high protein (=high nitrogen) waste is
bulked up with kitchen towel etc.

My bottom line is to return it to the ground - and there is a certain
something in even badly made compost that can put the zing back into tired
soil.

I have a Tesco at the end of my street and a few months ago someone raided
their waste bins and I found quite a few bread rolls and cakes in the
street - which promptly went in the mix. If I had the space I would find it
hard to resist the temptation to divert much of their waste stream ;-)

I consistently have inkcap mushrooms growing in there :-

http://img420.imageshack.us/img420/9...shrooms1zf.jpg

JennyC wrote:
"gentlegreen" wrote
snipped
Zillions of gardeners CAN be wrong ;-)


We are always told to put on loads of stuff at the same time to raise
the temperature of the compost heap...... but how do you do that when
you only have a very small garden with not much waste, and there's
only two of you, so not much veggie waste either?

Jenny

Most of us are infact producing worm compost

pk

The message
from "JennyC" contains these words:

We are always told to put on loads of stuff at the same time to raise the
temperature of the compost heap...... but how do you do that when you
only have
a very small garden with not much waste, and there's only two of you, so not
much veggie waste either?

Visit your local greengrocer, who is often only too pleased to give you
lots of stuff to take away. Add cardboard, newsprint, hedge clippings
(if any), and even take in stuff from gardenproud neighbours who must
have a 'clinicly clean and tidy' garden.

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

JennyC wrote:
"gentlegreen" wrote
snipped
Zillions of gardeners CAN be wrong ;-)


We are always told to put on loads of stuff at the same time to
raise
the temperature of the compost heap...... but how do you do that
when
you only have a very small garden with not much waste, and there's
only two of you, so not much veggie waste either?

I wouldn't worry about it. Hot or cold or in between, it'll break
down in the end, whatever the "bigger-than-yours" boys say. I suspect
that one of the reasons for the fashion (and that's all it is) for
bought-in compost bins is that they disguise the quantity!

If having a small heap irritates you, then try a small hole
somewhe just chuck stuff in till it's full or you get fed up,
cover with a bit of earth and dig another.

--
Mike.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message k
from "gentlegreen" contains these words:



Zillions of gardeners CAN be wrong ;-)

and from another post, same author

I actually make fairly rubbish compost at the moment

Looks like you might be one of them

Janet.

what I meant was that circumstances dictate I'm not working at maximum
efficiency. I really need to give it a bit of a stir before the winter sets
in but I can't resist waiting till the current flush of inkcaps develop ....
and I'm always a bit squeamish about hurting the worms.

The bottom line for me is that nothing "organic" goes into the wheelie bin -
(within reason - I had to take some really coarse prunings to the tip a few
weeks ago)
If my garden wasn't so tiny I would compost every last bit of newspaper
(only the free ones as I no longer buy one) .
I must remember to collect a bale of straw for my banana before it's too
late. I can see that taking a while to process through my little "dalek"
next year (I have no room to store such things)

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

In the last week, our heaps have received a giant sack of lawnclippings,
present from next door, the last six sacks of shearing-shed sweepings
from the farm up the road (wool and muck) and four of seaweed. [etc. etc.]

Janet: what I'd like to know is: how often do you turn your compost,
and how do you turn it?

Since I acquired a Muck Fork[1] from the local farm suppliers, turning
compost has become much easier (as has forking up any vegetable
materials), but it is still hard work, especially as I feel I ought to
reverse the bottom and top of any given compost heap, in the process of
turning it (i.e. turn the whole lot out, and restack it, every few
weeks).

[1] Bulldog brand; one of the best £16.00s I ever spent.

John

John wrote:
In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

In the last week, our heaps have received a giant sack of
lawnclippings, present from next door, the last six sacks of
shearing-shed sweepings
from the farm up the road (wool and muck) and four of seaweed.
[etc. etc.]

Janet: what I'd like to know is: how often do you turn your compost,
and how do you turn it?


I've got two 1m^3 bins side by side. Tannelised timber construction

One rotting down, one filling, when the filler is full I empty the rotter
and then transfer the filler into the rotter. ie the most recent unrotted
stuff goes to the bottom and the old stuff comes to the top

Filling take about 1 year by which time the rotter is ready for use.

I do no other turning.

Everything goes in: Lawn mowings, soft prunings, kitchen waster, guine pig
hutch cleanings.

Result: Well rotted & sweet smelling

pk

In article ,
p.k. wrote:

Most of us are infact producing worm compost

We aren't all QUITE that far gone, you know! Give it a few years
and, yes, I will be doing that.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

gentlegreen wrote:
Yep - definitely a rat - had to bash his brains out with a hammer - but as I
say it went into my red hot compost bin so was quickly dealt with by mother
nature.

faint

As to the meat thing, I was vegan for 20 years but the past 2 I've been
experimenting with fish and I always make a point of gutting them myselves
so I can add them to my compost. Since I have a security camera and PIR lamp
I would know if there was any live rat activity.

Ha! Fish yes! And blood and bones are good too - it's just the idea of
everyone putting the rest of their sunday roast on the compost bin.
Somehow it sounds really wrong. Just imagine those zillions of
gardeners with huge piles of meat rotting away. Honestly ...

Zillions of gardeners CAN be wrong ;-)

It's a life time learning process. I've heard :o)

Excellent link btw. I never bother touching my compost. I just ask my
boys to pee in it when they have a moment.