"moghouse" wrote in message
...
On Jul 14, 11:54 am, June Hughes
wrote:

Chicken poo makes wonderful compost.

Yeah but....how do you get the chickens to poo on the compost heap?
Litter trays for cats works very well but toilet training chickens -
you must be winding us up!

:~)) You set the cats on the chickens. Believe me, the chickens will
perform. :~)

Incidently adding slugs and snails is an interesting idea - of course
here in Essex all the slugs wear shell suits!

I can believe it! :~) It's okay, I'm allowed to say that - I married
Essex Man! :~)

Spider

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-07-14 12:14:29 +0100, June Hughes
said:

In message , Spider
writes

snip
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.

Oh dear. I put slugs _and_ snails in mine. Why shouldn't you? (Whatever
you say, I am not prepared to go delving through the compost bin to dig
out the slugs )
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.

Ah! You have answered my question. I like the idea of snail shells as
cane toppers but I generally tread on them, so defeat the purpose. Must
try not to and put them straight into the compost instead. I was at
Barnsdale Gardens on Sunday and they used old, small plant pots as cane
toppers. A bit like Mr McGregor.

Charlie uses wine corks, she says sneakily. Just to be fair, I should
probably explain that he doesn't drink the contents of every bottle they
once topped but gets given a lot!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon


Yes, we believe you, Sacha :~)

Spider

"drtj1960" wrote in message
...

'Spider[_2_ Wrote:
;855957']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


Hi Spider,
I have just started composting this year so far so good! with 3 large
wooden compost bins my husband errected for me. I too have some good
compost but showing my ignorance what do you have to do to sieve the
compost? Many thanks Debs in Bristol
Hi Spider,
I have just started composting this year on a large scale with 3 large
wooden compost bins husband errected for me, I too have some good
compost but showing my ignorance what do you do to sieve the compost?
Many thanks Debs in Bristol

--
drtj1960

You will need a large metal sieve (or riddle). You simply fork your 'made'
compost into the sieve, shake the sieve over a roomy container (a
wheelbarrow is perfect) and admire the wonderful crumbly compost that falls
out. Anything left in the sieve can be heaped aside and put in the empty
bin when you start again.

I have a few green plastic sieves which I use for other jobs. They are
*useless* for sieving compost. Do get a metal one; they're so much better.

Spider

"Roy Norris" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:43:39 +0100, "Spider"
wrote:

Snip

You're really lucky to have horse poo. We once bought some horse poo from
a
Dulwich stable, but the price was rather high. I resent paying for
something that is, in all honesty, free waste. Anyway, 'Him indoors'
won't
have a tetanus shot, so I daren't use HP for fear he gets something he'll
never get rid of. It's just as well I can produce good compost without
it.
I do use chicken poo pellets for a seasonal boost, though.

Spider


I thought you paid for the back breaking work of collecting and
bagging the stuff and feeding the horses / ponies in the first place.

Rather like the old fashioned TV repairer - called out - looked at the
set - thumped it - picture back. Charged £1, that's steep said the
customer; "how do you work that out?" Well said the repairer - the
thumps 6d - knowing where to thump - 19/6d.

You probably need to muliply by 100 to get it up to date.
Feeding horses & ponies is just about the same - but in any case I
think horse manure is now controlled waste so you probably can't buy
it at all nowadays.


It's only controlled waste if collected by a licensed waste carrier with
predominantly man made bedding such as wood pellets or paper product etc.

Organic animal waste is usually exempt in small quantities unless containing
other produce such as fertilizers, weed killers or the like or has other
un-organic stuff in it (Read as collected from an unknown source which might
contain, such as poo heap of stable clearout etc)

Ragwort on the other hand is a controlled weed (Notifiable to the local
authority)and should be burned instead of disposed of, but that don't stop a
lot of yards chucking it in the poo pile so look out for it if you are
collecting manure.

On 2009-07-14 22:51:17 +0100, "Spider" said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-07-14 12:14:29 +0100, June Hughes
said:

In message , Spider
writes

snip
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.

Oh dear. I put slugs _and_ snails in mine. Why shouldn't you? (Whatever
you say, I am not prepared to go delving through the compost bin to dig
out the slugs )
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.

Ah! You have answered my question. I like the idea of snail shells as
cane toppers but I generally tread on them, so defeat the purpose. Must
try not to and put them straight into the compost instead. I was at
Barnsdale Gardens on Sunday and they used old, small plant pots as cane
toppers. A bit like Mr McGregor.

Charlie uses wine corks, she says sneakily. Just to be fair, I should
probably explain that he doesn't drink the contents of every bottle they
once topped but gets given a lot!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon


Yes, we believe you, Sacha :~)

Spider

I've not only seen the canes, I've seen the bags of corks being handed
over. ;-) He and Liz probably go home with more 'baggage' from Plant
Sales than they set out with!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On Jul 14, 10:21*pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Roy Norris" wrote in message

...



On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:43:39 +0100, "Spider"
wrote:

Snip

You're really lucky to have horse poo. *We once bought some horse poo from
a
Dulwich stable, but the price was rather high. *I resent paying for
something that is, in all honesty, free waste. *Anyway, 'Him indoors'
won't
have a tetanus shot, so I daren't use HP for fear he gets something he'll
never get rid of. *It's just as well I can produce good compost without
it.
I do use chicken poo pellets for a seasonal boost, though.

Spider

I thought you paid for the back breaking work of collecting and
bagging the stuff and feeding the horses / ponies in the first place.

Rather like the old fashioned TV repairer - called out - looked at the
set - thumped it - picture back. *Charged £1, that's steep said the
customer; "how do you work that out?" *Well said the repairer - the
thumps 6d - knowing where to thump - 19/6d.

LOL! *Thumping good yarn :~)



You probably need to muliply by 100 to get it up to date.
Feeding horses & ponies is just about the same - but in any case I
think horse manure is now controlled waste so you probably can't buy
it at all nowadays.

Goodness. *The horses must be shi**ing themselves laughing! *In our
'reduce-reuse-recycle everything' world that is plainly off-the-scale crass.
Anyway, I'm still not paying for it, so there! :~)

Spider

LOL

Judith

On Jul 14, 10:38*pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Judith in France" wrote in ...
On Jul 14, 12:07 pm, "Spider" wrote: "June Hughes" wrote in message

news

*Snipped



The late Geoffrey Smith once said that compost should be such that
you
could fancy it in a sandwich. Anyone fancy a sandwich?

Pam in Bristol

Mine looked really yummy. I offered RG ('Him indoors') compost pie for
dinner, but he turned it down. There's no pleasing some people.

Spider

LOL. I have been adding chicken poo to mine and it seems to be
working, without it, the contents hadn't even started to break down, b

Chicken poo makes wonderful compost.
--
June Hughes

Agreed; but so do I - and I don't smell as much :~))

Spider

Young woman, are you suggesting I smell of eau de chicken poo? *I
usually smell of Chanel number 5 LOL *According to someone I know,
they would say they both smell the same, Philistine!!!

:~) *It's a long time since anyone called me a young woman. *Nice though.

Now, Judith, please don't take this the wrong way, but I hope you don't
smell of anything so strongly that I could smell it in London! :~))
However, I suggest you save the poultry ploppy for the garden and continue
to apply Chanel No5 to your person. *I'm quite sure your local Philistine
*can* tell the difference. *What a cheek! *I bet it's a man!

Anyway, I'm sure you're the most fragrant compost-maker for miles. *There!
Better now? :~)

Spider

Aaah bless, no wonder I like you!!!

Judith

Roy Norris wrote:
Feeding horses & ponies is just about the same - but in any case I
think horse manure is now controlled waste so you probably can't buy
it at all nowadays.

Not controlled, but I believe you now need a licence if you have a
horsemuck heap. Could be because they have a tendency to spontaneously
combust in hot weather.

Spider: your OH is just making excuses. Horses are vaccinated against
tetanus.

Sue in Southsea

"EastneyEnder" wrote in message
...
Roy Norris wrote:
Feeding horses & ponies is just about the same - but in any case I
think horse manure is now controlled waste so you probably can't buy
it at all nowadays.

Not controlled, but I believe you now need a licence if you have a
horsemuck heap. Could be because they have a tendency to spontaneously
combust in hot weather.

Spider: your OH is just making excuses. Horses are vaccinated against
tetanus.

Sue in Southsea


I suspect you're right, although I wouldn't like to take the chance. Not
all horses are treated correctly; either humanely or medically. Anyway, as
they say, you can take an OH to an injection, but you can't make it ...

Spider

R writes
Ragwort on the other hand is a controlled weed (Notifiable to the local
authority)

No it is not notifiable - you do not have to notify anyone if you have
it growing on your land.

Ragwort is a native UK plant which is a primary food plant for the
cinnabar moth, listed on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as rapidly
declining.

It is covered (along with spear thistle, creeping thistle, broad leaved
dock and curled dock) by the Weeds Act 1959. You have a responsibility
to stop any of these five weeds spreading from your land on to
neighbouring land, and DEFRA can take action if you do not do so. It is
not a problem if it is growing on land which is not used for grazing or
close to grazing land.

--
Kay

"K" wrote in message
...
R writes
Ragwort on the other hand is a controlled weed (Notifiable to the local
authority)

No it is not notifiable - you do not have to notify anyone if you have it
growing on your land.

Ragwort is a native UK plant which is a primary food plant for the
cinnabar moth, listed on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as rapidly
declining.

It is covered (along with spear thistle, creeping thistle, broad leaved
dock and curled dock) by the Weeds Act 1959. You have a responsibility to
stop any of these five weeds spreading from your land on to neighbouring
land, and DEFRA can take action if you do not do so. It is not a problem
if it is growing on land which is not used for grazing or close to grazing
land.

I refer to the following on Ragwort
http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/wildlif...rt-dispose.pdf

Ragwort may need to be controlled when its presence and the likelihood of it
spreading to neighbouring land poses a risk to horses and other grazing

animals or land used for the production of forage.

Many thanks for that spider Sorry to show my ignorance. I will certainly do that when I empty the rest of my compost bin.Debs

R writes

"K" wrote in message
...
R writes
Ragwort on the other hand is a controlled weed (Notifiable to the local
authority)

No it is not notifiable - you do not have to notify anyone if you have it
growing on your land.

Ragwort is a native UK plant which is a primary food plant for the
cinnabar moth, listed on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as rapidly
declining.

It is covered (along with spear thistle, creeping thistle, broad leaved
dock and curled dock) by the Weeds Act 1959. You have a responsibility to
stop any of these five weeds spreading from your land on to neighbouring
land, and DEFRA can take action if you do not do so. It is not a problem
if it is growing on land which is not used for grazing or close to grazing
land.

I refer to the following on Ragwort
http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/wildlif...rt-dispose.pdf

Ragwort may need to be controlled when its presence and the likelihood of it
spreading to neighbouring land poses a risk to horses and other grazing

animals or land used for the production of forage.

Yes - exactly what I was saying.

--
Kay

"drtj1960" wrote in message
...

'Spider[_2_ Wrote:
;856178']"drtj1960" wrote in message

...-

'Spider[_2_ Wrote:-
;855957'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


Hi Spider,
I have just started composting this year so far so good! with 3 large
wooden compost bins my husband errected for me. I too have some good
compost but showing my ignorance what do you have to do to sieve the
compost? Many thanks Debs in Bristol
Hi Spider,-
I have just started composting this year on a large scale with 3
large
wooden compost bins husband errected for me, I too have some good
compost but showing my ignorance what do you do to sieve the compost?
Many thanks Debs in Bristol

--
drtj1960-

You will need a large metal sieve (or riddle). You simply fork your
'made'
compost into the sieve, shake the sieve over a roomy container (a
wheelbarrow is perfect) and admire the wonderful crumbly compost that
falls
out. Anything left in the sieve can be heaped aside and put in the
empty
bin when you start again.

I have a few green plastic sieves which I use for other jobs. They are

*useless* for sieving compost. Do get a metal one; they're so much
better.
Spider
Many thanks for that spider Sorry to show my ignorance. I will
certainly do that when I empty the rest of my compost bin.Debs


drtj1960


It's not ignorance, Debs, it's a learning curve. We've all done it. It's
just that we ladies are more curvy than the chaps! :~)

Spider

"Spider" wrote in message
...

"R" wrote in message
...

"Spider" wrote in message
...
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 :~)

Compost.................Now there's an earthy word.

Ours ?
Alternative layers of garden debris, shredded of course with horse poo.
At last I have a use for her neddy and its friends in the paddock who
produce the best poo mix.
Dug in last year to veg patch, left the other half un-manured.
(Experiment to "Her indoors" to prove that digging it in works)
*Everything* grows better and stronger, plus tastes better.
Baby spuds, and carrots are divine.


You're really lucky to have horse poo. We once bought some horse poo from
a Dulwich stable, but the price was rather high. I resent paying for
something that is, in all honesty, free waste. Anyway, 'Him indoors'
won't have a tetanus shot, so I daren't use HP for fear he gets something
he'll never get rid of. It's just as well I can produce good compost
without it. I do use chicken poo pellets for a seasonal boost, though.

Several places near me give the stuff away, only to keen to get rid of it!