General Chat

Morning all, Want to buy a compost bin and seen the one I want, though didn't have time to examine it properly.............it has the little trap door opening in front...............but have discovered that some of them don't have bases...............OR are they all bottomless? And do they have to be placed on earth in the garden if the don't have a base? Jen

They don't have bottoms and need to be placed on earth so that the worms can migrate upwards and do their stuff! Look at Wriggly wrigglers (.) c o (.) uk

Well that does make perfect sense Kris, I never thought about the worms getting involved lol! Thanks a bundle. Jen

Another informative site is www *greengardener* co * uk/worms

we had one from our council with a bottom. Had air holes in it but we had it close to the house and it became very smelly so gave it to our duaghter. Dont know how she is getting on with it. She is more of a gardener then us

Hi, There are quite a lot out there to choose from. We got ours via the council free. It's about 5ft high with just a lid at the top and its bottomless, and stands on earth. When any compost is ready we have to tip it on its side to get at it, so not too user friendly. Does have its other uses though as small grandchildren will be standing on it leaning over the fence and watching the firework display in the park on Saturday. Enjoy. Provided you put in the correct things then you will get lovely free compost for your garden. Aileen xx

I have two compost bins, which are on concrete, out of both of them I get very good compost, which I put on my raised beds. . But I would not buy them at full price ask your council if they have a compost bins offer on at half price or less.

I am a bit of a saddo when it comes to composting ! If you want to compost household waste - veg peelings, tea bags, coffee dregs, egg shells etc I can recommend the 'Can of Worms' system. It is very compact, does not smell and you get excellent liquid fertilizer as well which is excellent for both the garden and house plants. If you Google 'Can of worms' you can get all the info. You need to order Tiger Worms as they love household waste and work very quickly. **Is talking legitimate C**p for once on the boards** lol

They are a must if you have a garden! I have two bins, bottomless and stand on the soil. Everything goes in,all the kitchen waste (no meat or you will attract vermin). eggs shells, tea bags etc. The only things I don't put in are citrus peel as it makes the compost very acidic and carrot peelings as the smell could attract the carrot fly as I grow veg and flowers for showing. Try and make a sandwich in the compost, green waste with layers of brown in between, ie. leaves, cardboard ripped up, egg boxes etc and it will compost more quickly and not end up a mush!

Brian I put citrus peel in mine but have a special worm lime that I sprinkle in every now and again to neutralize the acid - egg shells also do the same thing as they are alkaline.

Some great tips and advice here, thanks everyone. Council does actually do these in league with Thames water, at a great reduced rate, only drawback is, you have to wait up to two months to get them! And as we are keen to start now, we may just go ahead anyway. Jen

Another saddo here, lol. Someone told me a little while ago that the contents of a vacuum cleaner can go in the composter, also human and animal hair, clipped nails etc. So when we brush the cats, even they're doing their bit for the environment! x

We have two of the plastic ones, one with the side trap and one without. The one with the side door composts better and it is easier to get the finished product out.

I have two - a home made one, made out of some left over polystyrene from the roof of the conservatory, and a pukka green one with a trap door which I got via the council for £3. The trap door is useless really and I generally just lift the whole bin off the pile and do it that way. I use one bin one year and let it stand the next. Both are bottomless, but I went skip-diving, and rescued some of that builder's mesh stuff which I put underneath the bins, as I am paranoid about rats. I too put loads of cardboard in mine - about 1/4 cardboard/paper to 3/4 soft green stuff is ideal. I live near the sea and occasionally go off with my bucket and get some seaweed - this is an activator and makes the compost rot down quicker. I also use chopped up stinging nettles - they do the same job. Some years ago I made a wormery, out of an old Baby Burco Boiler - it worked very well, lots of worm wee! I used ordinary garden worms for that, but was quite careful what I put in it, nothing smelly. I also have a Green Cone Food Digester, for cooked food waste. This was expensive but fantastic - it even eats a turkey carcase, does not smell at all and does not attract vermin - a special digesting powder is supplied. OC

OC - I've not heard of that before (your last paragraph). Sounds good! Would you recommend it? It sounds as if you would. :-) Am popping in and out of site today; got the day off so am doing stuff around the house. Just in case someone replies and I don't, lol.

All I put in my compost bins is my kitchen waste, nothing else, but as I grow potatoes I do not put potatoe peelings in as you could get blight on next years pots. Only the raised bed that has carrots in next year will not get any of the compost out of the bins as they tend to fork if I do.

Black Country Chap I tend not to put hedge clippings in mine as I have a large privet hedge - these are poisonous and stop the compost rotting. The other shrubs I have in the garden are all pretty invasive and I don't want them growing in the compost, which is what happned the first year! Our council collects garden waste once a month and I put the clippings and prunings out for them. Yep, my grandad used to wee on the compost - he told me it has to be man's wee, not ladies - I still don't know if he was having me on! Green Cone Digester - fantastic as I said, but expensive for what it is, which is basically a plastic laundry basket buried in the ground, topped with an inverted green plastic cone. You can aslo put compostable waste in it, but I prefer to do that separately, as the Green Cone makes the contents dissolve, so you never have a by-product, as it were. Having two compost bins and using them alternate years means I never have to turn my compost, a job I hate. OC

jan,you dont have to buy one,just phone your local coucil recycling dept,they will give you one free,ive got one ,it hasnt got a base but a long as you put it on flat groung its fine,the weight of the contents will stop it from falling over,it takes about a year to make compost and you will put tonnes of waste in it,but its worth it in the end.xxxx

Just in case you were considering them- I have one of the 'tumble' type compost bins, plus the council one with no base (plus several heaps!) . The tumbler gets heavy to turn if you fill it too much and is quite difficult to tip out without lots of mess, also tends to be lumpy whereas the bottomless one is ful of worms,makes finer compost quicker. I put shredded and shrubby bit on a heap and cover with grass cuttings etc in layers , takes longer but is really good when it's ready!

Suzanne, You don't know my council...........nothings free! They do a scheme with Thames water though and we can get one for £6 but I want the base as well which costs an extra fiver. Still a good saving though on what they cost wholesale. Have to wait up to 8 weeks to get it though, only drawback! Some fantastic info here thanks all for the input. Jen