My composter has arrived. It's the DEFRA subsidised one, that local
authorities have been
plugging. The helpful leaflet that came with it, advises against composting
cooked veg, but gives no reasons. I'm a bit surprised, any ideas on this
one?TIA.

Bertie
..

Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from "Bertie Doe" contains these words:

My composter has arrived. It's the DEFRA subsidised one, that local
authorities have been
plugging. The helpful leaflet that came with it, advises against composting
cooked veg, but gives no reasons. I'm a bit surprised, any ideas on this
one?TIA.

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.
Janet

We put all our fruit and veg waste into the compost bins. Most of the
cooked veg leftovers get "recycled" by the dogs mixed in with their
dinners. Egg shells vanish very quickly, possibly due to the compost
accelerator used ;-) Orange peel can sometimes take a while to
decompose, but does so anyway. The only things that I find problematic
to compost are whole brassica stems, especially Brussels sprout.
However, if these are coarsely chopped first using a small hand axe then
they rot fairly quickly too. We also compost all cardboard waste such as
cereal packets and paper based junk mail (except the glossy paper).

A well mixed compost bin with accelerator (pee) and this warm Summer
weather devours compost at a very fast rate. I can get away with using
only one bin and it goes down faster than things are added to it. Unlike
during Winter when I completely fill three bins and they compost much
slower.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

"Bertie Doe" wrote in message
...
My composter has arrived. It's the DEFRA subsidised one, that local
authorities have been
plugging. The helpful leaflet that came with it, advises against
composting cooked veg, but gives no reasons. I'm a bit surprised, any
ideas on this one?TIA.

Bertie
.

I won't put cooked veg in if they have been cooked/dressed with animal based
dressing, such as butter. Not that there are often any buttered, minted, new
potatoes left over to even consider going into the compost bin.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Bertie Doe" contains these words:

My composter has arrived. It's the DEFRA subsidised one, that local
authorities have been
plugging. The helpful leaflet that came with it, advises against
composting
cooked veg, but gives no reasons. I'm a bit surprised, any ideas on this
one?TIA.

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.
Janet

My bins are being relocated, and having discovered a family of mice in
residence in one of my bins, at the new location there's going to be some
weld mesh placed on the ground and the compost bins on top of that - to
allow worms in but keep rodents out.

wafflycat wrote:


My bins are being relocated, and having discovered a family of mice in
residence in one of my bins, at the new location there's going to be
some weld mesh placed on the ground and the compost bins on top of that
- to allow worms in but keep rodents out.

I've only ever had a problem with rodents living in a compost bin once
in the many years I've used them, and that was due to the compost being
too dry. I think maybe you had the same problem? I always try to keep
mine somewhere between moist and wet - I don't think they make a nice
place for rodents to live. The compost seems to break down fastest when
moist too.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

wafflycat wrote:

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Bertie Doe" contains these words:

My composter has arrived. It's the DEFRA subsidised one, that local
authorities have been
plugging. The helpful leaflet that came with it, advises against
composting
cooked veg, but gives no reasons. I'm a bit surprised, any ideas on this
one?TIA.

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.
Janet

My bins are being relocated, and having discovered a family of mice in
residence in one of my bins, at the new location there's going to be
some weld mesh placed on the ground and the compost bins on top of that
- to allow worms in but keep rodents out.
Be aware that mice and rats can squeeze through surprisingly small holes.

--
Please reply to group,emails to designated
address are never read.

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:34:19 +0100, 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.

Agreed, but also consider adding a wormery to your armoury for cooked
leftovers of all sorts. Less prone to rodents it can be kept much closer
to the kitchen door.

Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from "Bertie Doe" contains these words:

My composter has arrived. It's the DEFRA subsidised one, that local
authorities have been
plugging. The helpful leaflet that came with it, advises against
composting cooked veg, but gives no reasons. I'm a bit surprised, any
ideas on this one?TIA.

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.
Janet

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!.

No cooked veg goes in as it's all scoffed. Well, maybe the odd pea or bean
pod stalk...

--
Jeff

"Broadback" wrote in message
...

Be aware that mice and rats can squeeze through surprisingly small holes.


Which is why I'm getting surprisingly small holed weld-mesh

"wafflycat" wrote in message
...

"Broadback" wrote in message
...

Be aware that mice and rats can squeeze through surprisingly small holes.


Which is why I'm getting surprisingly small holed weld-mesh

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.
Here are some thoughts. I opted for the Green Johanna (page 9 of 10 above)
which comes in 4 sections.

Green Johanna advantages : It has a permanent base, with ventilators which
can be shut - therefore mice-free. Ditto close-able ventilator near top, to
shed excess moisture.
Disadvantage : Plastic looks wafer thin where the 4 sections are fixed
together with self-tapping screws (supplied). In 3 or 4 years I can foresee
the plastic cracking.

Con 330 (page 2 of 10 above) advantages : It's a solid one-piece
construction. It has no base, so will allow worms to enter. Perhaps not so
well ventilated as the jolly green johanna, but if the contents need to be
'revitalised' after 3 months - you can let the contents dry out etc, then
fork the contents back into the compostor.

Anyone read the following, with reference to 'hot heap' and 'cool heap'
composting. Any thoughts. TIA.
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/orga...compost_pf.php

Bertie
..

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.

The point is that all of the above turn into things that are no more
harmful than small stones - and eggshells are more like limestone sand.
If you have acid soil, they will be useful for that.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Bertie Doe" wrote in message
...
"wafflycat" wrote in message
...

"Broadback" wrote in message
...

Be aware that mice and rats can squeeze through surprisingly small
holes.


Which is why I'm getting surprisingly small holed weld-mesh

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.

David in Normandy writes
The only things that I find problematic to compost are whole brassica
stems, especially Brussels sprout. However, if these are coarsely
chopped first using a small hand axe then they rot fairly quickly too.

It doesn't really matter if the compost still has a few partially rotted
things in it when you come to use it (as long as you're not filling pots
with it) - so long as they're chopped to, say, 3 inches, so that they
don't make the compost difficult to dig out from the heap. If you don't
chop, you get long things all tangled up and stuck under a heavy lump
that you haven't yet dug out.
--
Kay

"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.

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.
--
June Hughes