In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from "Jeff Layman" contains these words:

I totally agree with you about citrus peel, but eggshells just sit there.

Before you drop them in the compost bucket, don't you crunch the
shells in your hand to prevent witches sailing in them? Tsk.

What do you have against witches? My great aunt was one ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

--
..
wrote in message
...
In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from "Jeff Layman" contains these words:

I totally agree with you about citrus peel, but eggshells just sit
there.

Before you drop them in the compost bucket, don't you crunch the
shells in your hand to prevent witches sailing in them? Tsk.

What do you have against witches? My great aunt was one ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

My departed Mother in Law's Sister perhaps?

Mike

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:46:11 +0100, June Hughes
wrote:

In message , wafflycat
writes

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
.. .


Before you drop them in the compost bucket, don't you crunch the
shells in your hand to prevent witches sailing in them? Tsk.

Janet.

In this household eggshells are rinsed out, baked, crushed and then fed
back to the hens.

Ours are washed out, baked, crushed and put round seedlings.

Ours are washed, baked, finely powdered and used for a calcium
supplement.

Steve

--
Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:35:59 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote:

We never have any cooked leftovers to throw away.. if we don't use
them up in some other dish, they are eaten by the dog. Or the wild
birds.

Janet

Fair point! In my case the compost bins are a mile away at the lotty so a
wormery would still be a good idea.

wrote:
In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:
Janet Baraclough wrote:

Ignore it; its based on a misguided notion that only cooked veg
attract rats. Rats are just as fond of raw veg,
a cosy compostheap, and the worms that will move into it later.
You can also ignore the usual local council advice not to compost
citrus peel, onion skin and eggshells because they don't decompose. It's
nonsense.

I agree.

I totally agree with you about citrus peel, but eggshells just sit there.
I've pulled them out from the bottom after being in the composter for a
couple of years!.

Yes, they will, but chuck them on anyway! Just crumble them when you
use the compost.

The things that I compost that do last for ever are (sea) shells, like
mussel, oyster, scallop or winkle. But I chuck them on my traditional
heap anyway. Avocado stones, peach/nectarine/plum stones, the harder
nut shells etc. take some years, but they can be left to do that in the
soil. I sieve them out for making potting compost, but not for spreading
on the garden.

Mango stones (? not sure what to call them) get hollowed out and the seed
coat remains. Does the same thing happen to avocados? How do
peach/plum/nectarines ever germinate? The stones seem indestructible.
Maybe a mouse or squirrel thinks it's got a meal after gnawing in, only to
get a dose of cyanide to dissuade it. I also use a sieve to remove the
larger matter and chuck that on the garden.


--
Jeff

In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:

The things that I compost that do last for ever are (sea) shells, like
mussel, oyster, scallop or winkle. But I chuck them on my traditional
heap anyway. Avocado stones, peach/nectarine/plum stones, the harder
nut shells etc. take some years, but they can be left to do that in the
soil. I sieve them out for making potting compost, but not for spreading
on the garden.

Mango stones (? not sure what to call them) get hollowed out and the seed
coat remains. Does the same thing happen to avocados?

It's mango stones. That happens, but the coat then rots down fairly
fast (i.e. in a year or so). Avocados are very different, and the
oil has to leach out before they will rot - it takes a few years.

How do
peach/plum/nectarines ever germinate? The stones seem indestructible.
Maybe a mouse or squirrel thinks it's got a meal after gnawing in, only to
get a dose of cyanide to dissuade it.

Nope. They crack open from the inside.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

What do you have against witches?

I have nothing against witches who stay on dry land, but I very much
disapprove of them putting to sea in eggshells
to sink sailors and fishermen. Save our fish and chips!

My great aunt was one ....

Excuse me while I just run round the computer chair 3 times
widdershins and rearrange the garlic cloves.

That's sort-of how she became one :-)

There is a stone in Cornwall with a hole in it, and you have to run
around it widdershins seven times, naked, under a full moon (or at
some such time) and then climb through the hole.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"wafflycat" wrote in message
...

"Bertie Doe" wrote in message
Thanks all for your obs. Incidentally if anyone is interested in taking
advantage of the DEFRA subsidised compost bins
http://www.recyclenow.com/compost/ offer ends soon.

It's through that site I've acquired three compost bins. Whether there is
a low-cost bin depends on your local authority area. Currently my LA
doesn't operate a scheme, so I'm glad I made use of past schemes.

I have a large concrete coal bunker which is surplus to requirements. I'm
moving it section by section to the allotment. It's easily twice the
capacity of the LA ones. It'll free up the space used by the existing
conventional heap.
Incidentally, I half filled the new compost bin, with some material from the
conventional heap. The following morning, I measured 35C on the compost
surface and 55C 9" lower (sad or what).
I know my French bean climbers have always been sensitive to cold Spring
nights. Next year I will lay a trench of grass cuttings, partly for the
moisture retention, but also to see if it will act as central heating
(underfloor hypocaust??)

Bertie