Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand different
opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

For the structure of a compost heap I've seen plastic bins galore,
wood-panel boxes with and without front removal, suggestions for
containing it in a wire fence etc etc. My local council flogs 330Litre
plastic bins for £19.

Whichever structure you use, there are products to add to them, with
conflicting advice about whether they are needed. Likewise there are
different views on whether to keep mixing the content or not, and
whether you need a special tool to do that with or not.

Why isn't life simple??!!!

In my garden the most consistent matter is a lot of lawn cuttings on a
weekly basis, then periodic hedge trimmings from a fair amount of
privet and Leylandii, lots of Autumn leaves and sporadic stuff from two
ponds. Then there is the household waste. I can easily get rid of
excess amounts of lawn stuff into the council bins for garden waste.

There is also a question mark in my mind about the economics of this.
If I were to buy a plastic bin or the materials to make a wooden one,
how much would I save overall as opposed to buying compost from the
council (after giving them all my garden waste to make it!!).

All views welcomed - many thanks

JIP


--

"John Price" wrote in
o.uk:

Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand different
opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

For the structure of a compost heap I've seen plastic bins galore,
wood-panel boxes with and without front removal, suggestions for
containing it in a wire fence etc etc. My local council flogs 330Litre
plastic bins for £19.

Whichever structure you use, there are products to add to them, with
conflicting advice about whether they are needed. Likewise there are
different views on whether to keep mixing the content or not, and
whether you need a special tool to do that with or not.

Why isn't life simple??!!!

In my garden the most consistent matter is a lot of lawn cuttings on a
weekly basis, then periodic hedge trimmings from a fair amount of
privet and Leylandii, lots of Autumn leaves and sporadic stuff from two
ponds. Then there is the household waste. I can easily get rid of
excess amounts of lawn stuff into the council bins for garden waste.

There is also a question mark in my mind about the economics of this.
If I were to buy a plastic bin or the materials to make a wooden one,
how much would I save overall as opposed to buying compost from the
council (after giving them all my garden waste to make it!!).

All views welcomed - many thanks

JIP



Seems like I am the first of a thousand :-)

Life is never simple, but what I do is have a dalek which is a plastic
bin bought from the local council. I put grass clippings into it along
with paper and cardboard etc. When I can't fit my garden waste into it I
start a pile in the shaddowy corner where things don't grow very well. I
then sling on it everything which will eventually rot down. I have had a
couple of heaps on the go, but unwisely earlier this year when it was dry
and sunny I used it all.

I could give you tips like put your urine in the bin/heap but realy I am
a newbie compared to all of the people in this group.

Baz

On 27/04/2012 12:55, John Price wrote:
Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand different
opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

If you have room for two or preferably three heaps scale them so that
the amount of waste you have will fill two of them in a season.

For the structure of a compost heap I've seen plastic bins galore,
wood-panel boxes with and without front removal, suggestions for
containing it in a wire fence etc etc. My local council flogs 330Litre
plastic bins for £19.

Up to you, but old palettes and former shed doors can be had for free.
If you don't mind what it looks like then they are fine. Whatever wood
you use is going to rot away after a few years anyway.

Whichever structure you use, there are products to add to them, with
conflicting advice about whether they are needed. Likewise there are
different views on whether to keep mixing the content or not, and
whether you need a special tool to do that with or not.

For a beginner it might be worth buying a packet of proprietory Garotta
activator to start things off well. But so long as you add a decent
amount of stuff at a time and don't squash all the air out it should go
reasonably well with or without. Ignore all the obsessive US advice
about the right ratio of N to C it really doesn't matter. Keeping it
from drying out completely is important during summer.

Turning it completely is too much like hard work. I just fold the outer
edges into the middle before adding the next layer of fresh material.

Why isn't life simple??!!!

In my garden the most consistent matter is a lot of lawn cuttings on a
weekly basis, then periodic hedge trimmings from a fair amount of
privet and Leylandii, lots of Autumn leaves and sporadic stuff from two
ponds. Then there is the household waste. I can easily get rid of
excess amounts of lawn stuff into the council bins for garden waste.

Do the autumn leaves separately in an old bin or dalek for leaf mould
(takes a couple of years). Many dead leaves like beech have powerful
antifungal agents in them and will stall a compost heap. I use my
"green" bin for leaf mould production.

There is also a question mark in my mind about the economics of this.
If I were to buy a plastic bin or the materials to make a wooden one,
how much would I save overall as opposed to buying compost from the
council (after giving them all my garden waste to make it!!).

All views welcomed - many thanks

You do get the advantage of turning all your green waste into nice
friable organic mulch by using a compost heap (or two).

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 27/04/2012 15:01, Martin Brown wrote:
On 27/04/2012 12:55, John Price wrote:
Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand different
opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

If you have room for two or preferably three heaps scale them so that
the amount of waste you have will fill two of them in a season.

For the structure of a compost heap I've seen plastic bins galore,
wood-panel boxes with and without front removal, suggestions for
containing it in a wire fence etc etc. My local council flogs 330Litre
plastic bins for £19.

Up to you, but old palettes and former shed doors can be had for free.
If you don't mind what it looks like then they are fine. Whatever wood
you use is going to rot away after a few years anyway.

Whichever structure you use, there are products to add to them, with
conflicting advice about whether they are needed. Likewise there are
different views on whether to keep mixing the content or not, and
whether you need a special tool to do that with or not.

For a beginner it might be worth buying a packet of proprietory Garotta
activator to start things off well. But so long as you add a decent
amount of stuff at a time and don't squash all the air out it should go
reasonably well with or without. Ignore all the obsessive US advice
about the right ratio of N to C it really doesn't matter. Keeping it
from drying out completely is important during summer.

Turning it completely is too much like hard work. I just fold the outer
edges into the middle before adding the next layer of fresh material.

Why isn't life simple??!!!

In my garden the most consistent matter is a lot of lawn cuttings on a
weekly basis, then periodic hedge trimmings from a fair amount of
privet and Leylandii, lots of Autumn leaves and sporadic stuff from two
ponds. Then there is the household waste. I can easily get rid of
excess amounts of lawn stuff into the council bins for garden waste.

Do the autumn leaves separately in an old bin or dalek for leaf mould
(takes a couple of years). Many dead leaves like beech have powerful
antifungal agents in them and will stall a compost heap. I use my
"green" bin for leaf mould production.

There is also a question mark in my mind about the economics of this.
If I were to buy a plastic bin or the materials to make a wooden one,
how much would I save overall as opposed to buying compost from the
council (after giving them all my garden waste to make it!!).

All views welcomed - many thanks

You do get the advantage of turning all your green waste into nice
friable organic mulch by using a compost heap (or two).

As a general rule the larger the compost heap the quicker it will rot.
Of course if your garden is small that will not be much use. I have a
large garden and have three compost heaps (built from free scrap timber)
each about a meter cube. One in use, one rotting the third being filled
as plants become available. Works well for me, about a yearly cycle.

--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

In article ,
says...

Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand different
opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

Read the recent threads in the past few days, about compost heaps.
You don't need to buy any equipment to make compost.

Janet.

On Apr 27, 5:41*pm, Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...



Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand different
opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

Read the recent threads in the past few days, about compost heaps.
You don't need to buy any equipment to make compost.

Janet.

Not only that, but if you have more material than you've got bins for,
you dont even need to make compost. Just dump anything that wont grow
weeds or attract rats or look awful straight on the ground.

Compost is an anything goes thing. Whatever housing you use or none,
it will rot down. Whatever you mix into it, it will rot down. It cant
fail to. Just exclude robust weeds, and exclude rat access if you put
kitchen scraps in.


NT

It's a lot easier to sling your stuff on your compost heap rather than relying on the green bin - you'll find your green bin is full just when you want to do a major clearing. I don't know about your council, but ours doesn't collect green waste in the winter, although you'll find you generate quite a bit of wate in that period. And you can't put kitchen waste in a green bin.

Finally, if you buy from the council, you need to be confident that their composting process kills all the nasties that other people will put in, and what about the people who apply "weed and feed" to their lawns and then put the mowings in the green bin?

Janet wrote in news:MPG.2a04dc79bda1241f98b440
@news.eternal-september.org:

In article ,
says...

Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand different
opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

Read the recent threads in the past few days, about compost heaps.
You don't need to buy any equipment to make compost.

Janet.

Now that is the only thing the expert has said to date which is absolutely
correct. Well done Janet. You ACTUALLY read summing! AND gave a correct
answer. Gardeners Question Time are looking at you to give us your
knowledge now that you actually know something. Well done you!

Baz(who still has electricity)

Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand
different opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

Read the recent threads in the past few days, about compost heaps.
You don't need to buy any equipment to make compost.

Janet.

Hi Janet - the only thread I can see regarding composting is the one of
26-4-12 "Which seeds should NOT be composted". Am I missing something?

JIP

--

"John Price" wrote in message
...
Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

Still at the begining of my veg gardening, and am now looking at the
issue of composting. Googling yields a variety of
opinion/advice/equipment. At the risk of getting a thousand
different opinions, what is the "lived" experience here?

Read the recent threads in the past few days, about compost heaps.
You don't need to buy any equipment to make compost.

Janet.

Hi Janet - the only thread I can see regarding composting is the one of
26-4-12 "Which seeds should NOT be composted". Am I missing something?


That's the one - wide ranging discussion.

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

Hi,

I hope that I can offer you some advice via our website Mr Worms South West Wormery on the bottom left hand side you will find information pages about composting, composters and what system could be best for you.
If you have any questions about this or future dilemmas then please feel free to get in touch.

Kind regards

Paul
Mr Worms South West Wormery