@Lizzie27@Lyn Only just seen these comments. Thanks for the feedback! Using my dalek as storage for compost that's ready might be a good idea, I'll try it and see how it turns out. It's certainly not producing compost ...
I guess the real problem with daleks is that they don't keep the heat in very well? The RHS mag does have regular adverts for super-insulated composters (at a super-high price!) - I wonder if they work as well as the advertising claims?
I have three wood bins and a dalek. The latter is singularly useless and I'm thinking of sending it back to the planet it came from. Anybody got one that works?
They work fine for me but they're more effort than an open heap. Keep them turned and mixed and they'll steam with activity. Sometime I find it helps to just lift the dalek off the contents, move it a metre to the side and chuck the stuff back in again. It makes a mess but it's the only way to mix it well.
The best size for composting, to get maximum heat is 1square metre. The dalek is too narrow as you say, just doesn’t get hot enough. it depends on what you want or are prepared to accept, if you don’t mind waiting a year or two then it’s ok, but I need lots, all to be ready by the late autumn, ours is ready to use in two months, so we have plenty stored for the winter.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I did try wrapping our daleks in fleece over the winter to try and keep the heat (if any!) in. Not sure if it worked or not yet. Keep trying to persuade OH we must lift the bins off soon, exact the good stuff and shove the rest back in. (That's a bit beyond me at the moment). He'll probably get round to it when his raised beds need topping up. Does anybody buy the little pink worms online? I wondered if we need more in our bins.
Those little pink worms just appear on their own, Ive never bought any but every handful of compost has loads in it, I try and put some back into the bins but you can’t get every one.😀
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
We have a lot of grass clippings, so reading this post has been really informative.
I'm probably going to invest in a wooden compost bin kit, I've seen a three bay set for the new Zealand method. I've not got a clue what that actually means, so will be doing a lot more reading first.
At the moment all our kitchen waste is going in to the green bin, but I'm going to look to add it to the clippings instead.
Is there anything that is an absolute no for putting in to compost, i.e. raw meat?
Also, can pests like rats become any issue with the wooden bins?
@WestCoast warm, undisturbed and sheltered, would make a nice rat home. I have a nice HDRA compost book that says anything that once lived can be composted as a simple rule of thumb. They suggest avoiding cooked foods such as meat, it will compost fine, but may attract attention. Fine if you have a fortress bin and not a lot. I chicken wired my dalek food waste bins to keep out vermin, the brandling worms turn up, and within months you can have thousands through reproduction. I find the worms can do good work, they'll eat vegetable oils and fats, hair etc. If you have pet wastes treat that more carefully and separately. You can always double compost, by placing later in a bed that you plant a green manure (that you then compost). If your animals are wormed the waste will kill worms. To what extent I'm not sure. But may be worth considering. It's worth having multiple stations, to fill and forget. I never get enough green waste and would love grass clippings!
Posts
I guess the real problem with daleks is that they don't keep the heat in very well? The RHS mag does have regular adverts for super-insulated composters (at a super-high price!) - I wonder if they work as well as the advertising claims?
it depends on what you want or are prepared to accept, if you don’t mind waiting a year or two then it’s ok, but I need lots, all to be ready by the late autumn, ours is ready to use in two months, so we have plenty stored for the winter.
I'm probably going to invest in a wooden compost bin kit, I've seen a three bay set for the new Zealand method. I've not got a clue what that actually means, so will be doing a lot more reading first.
At the moment all our kitchen waste is going in to the green bin, but I'm going to look to add it to the clippings instead.
Is there anything that is an absolute no for putting in to compost, i.e. raw meat?
Also, can pests like rats become any issue with the wooden bins?
Thanks
I have a nice HDRA compost book that says anything that once lived can be composted as a simple rule of thumb. They suggest avoiding cooked foods such as meat, it will compost fine, but may attract attention. Fine if you have a fortress bin and not a lot. I chicken wired my dalek food waste bins to keep out vermin, the brandling worms turn up, and within months you can have thousands through reproduction. I find the worms can do good work, they'll eat vegetable oils and fats, hair etc.
If you have pet wastes treat that more carefully and separately. You can always double compost, by placing later in a bed that you plant a green manure (that you then compost). If your animals are wormed the waste will kill worms. To what extent I'm not sure. But may be worth considering.
It's worth having multiple stations, to fill and forget.
I never get enough green waste and would love grass clippings!