I had thought about having a compost bin but the whole of my rear garden in
paved so I don't have any soil to sit it on (I understand it needs to be
directly onto soil rather than paving slabs) so now I am thinking of a
wormery. I was wondering if anyone has experience with owning one and how
easy is it? I live on my own so don't produce tons of waste but I
understand that unlike a compost bin you can give worms cooked foods.

Also which wormery should I buy if I do decide to go down that route?

Thanks in advance.

Angela

In article ,
"Angela" writes:
|
| I had thought about having a compost bin but the whole of my rear garden in
| paved so I don't have any soil to sit it on (I understand it needs to be
| directly onto soil rather than paving slabs) so now I am thinking of a
| wormery. I was wondering if anyone has experience with owning one and how
| easy is it? I live on my own so don't produce tons of waste but I
| understand that unlike a compost bin you can give worms cooked foods.

You have been misinformed. Compost bins can be placed on paving slabs
(though they might be better on bricks on slabs), and you can put
cooked food into compost bins.

I don't use them, as I use traditional heaps - and produce a LOT of
compost - so I shall leave others to describe their experiences and
advise on the best way.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
says...
I had thought about having a compost bin but the whole of my rear garden in
paved so I don't have any soil to sit it on (I understand it needs to be
directly onto soil rather than paving slabs) so now I am thinking of a
wormery. I was wondering if anyone has experience with owning one and how
easy is it? I live on my own so don't produce tons of waste but I
understand that unlike a compost bin you can give worms cooked foods.

Also which wormery should I buy if I do decide to go down that route?

Thanks in advance.

Angela



We use the black bins supplied by the council and have them on a solid
brick base (stops rats getting in) because we put mainly kitchen waste in
them they are probably wetter than a compost heap should be but are full
of worms and work fine as wormeries. Apart from meat scraps which go in
the dog everything else goes in fine including all the unwanted mail!
If you can afford the space 2 small bins is better than one large as once
one is full you with to the other and can leave it untill the intire
contents are usable compost
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Angela wrote:
(snip) I live on my own so don't
produce tons of waste but I understand that unlike a compost bin you
can give worms cooked foods.

Why can't you put cooked veg in a compost bin? Mine is full of worms anyway
(how do they get onto the centre of the lid?!).

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

Jeff Layman writes
Angela wrote:
(snip) I live on my own so don't
produce tons of waste but I understand that unlike a compost bin you
can give worms cooked foods.

Why can't you put cooked veg in a compost bin? Mine is full of worms anyway
(how do they get onto the centre of the lid?!).

The logic appears to be that rats will get in if you put cooked food in.
I am not convinced by that logic.

There is another point, that cooked food may include fatty stuff which
doesn't rot down very easily, and if there's too much of it, it may make
the heap go slimy and smelly
--
Kay

"K" wrote in message
...
Jeff Layman writes
Angela wrote:
(snip) I live on my own so don't
produce tons of waste but I understand that unlike a compost bin you
can give worms cooked foods.

Why can't you put cooked veg in a compost bin? Mine is full of worms
anyway
(how do they get onto the centre of the lid?!).

The logic appears to be that rats will get in if you put cooked food in. I
am not convinced by that logic.

There is another point, that cooked food may include fatty stuff which
doesn't rot down very easily, and if there's too much of it, it may make
the heap go slimy and smelly
--
Kay

I aways thought the theory was to do with rats, and as Kay says too much fat
can do harm to the compost gremlins, to say nothing of the salt and other
things that is probably added..
If the heap is big enough, a small amount of cooked food probaby wont do any
harm, a bit of dried blood, if you can afford it, helps accelerate the
process.
I never had a wormery, they are supposed to be very good, but three open
bottom compost bins seems to handle our waste quite well.

John

In article ,
"John T" writes:
|
| I aways thought the theory was to do with rats, and as Kay says too much fat
| can do harm to the compost gremlins, to say nothing of the salt and other
| things that is probably added.

The original old wife's tale was, indeed, rats - but there seems to
be no basis for it.

People whose waste food contains large amounts of fat and salt have
problems that are rather more serious than composting ones ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"John T" writes:
|
| I aways thought the theory was to do with rats, and as Kay says too
much fat
| can do harm to the compost gremlins, to say nothing of the salt and
other
| things that is probably added.

The original old wife's tale was, indeed, rats - but there seems to
be no basis for it.

People whose waste food contains large amounts of fat and salt have
problems that are rather more serious than composting ones ....


I would have thought those who don't throw out the fat would have the
problems...

Mike

"K" wrote in message
...
Jeff Layman writes
Angela wrote:
(snip) I live on my own so don't
produce tons of waste but I understand that unlike a compost bin you
can give worms cooked foods.

Why can't you put cooked veg in a compost bin? Mine is full of worms
anyway
(how do they get onto the centre of the lid?!).

The logic appears to be that rats will get in if you put cooked food in. I
am not convinced by that logic.

I think the rats are generally more interesed in the worms than the compost.

In article ,
says...

"K" wrote in message
...
Jeff Layman writes
Angela wrote:
(snip) I live on my own so don't
produce tons of waste but I understand that unlike a compost bin you
can give worms cooked foods.

Why can't you put cooked veg in a compost bin? Mine is full of worms
anyway
(how do they get onto the centre of the lid?!).

The logic appears to be that rats will get in if you put cooked food in. I
am not convinced by that logic.

I think the rats are generally more interesed in the worms than the compost.



That is certainly true!
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea