@Papi Jo - earthworms lay eggs in the soil. There is always a bit of soil attached to the plants which go in the bin and I’m guessing the warmth of the bin induces the eggs to hatch and produce baby worms.
All I know for sure is that the bins are full of the little wrigglers.
@Ceres - I agree with your comments re those dalek style compost bins. Mine are heavy duty plastic panels which form a hexagonal (octagonal? - can’t remember!) shape with a folding lid. The sides completely open up to make loading and unloading very easy. Expensive to buy normally but the council were giving them away for £15 a pop about 15 years ago to encourage home composting. I took delivery of the maximum number!
Definitely go with the chicken wire to discourage rats from burrowing into the bin. Make sure it completely covers the base area and I also wrap mine up the side about 6" so they can't sneak in round the edges.
I have 2 compost bins each with (a double layer of) chicken wire in a corner of the shingle drive way. Makes great compost but the combination of shingle and wire makes it a bit difficult digging out the last couple of inches of compost from the bottom of the bin. I am going to move them to join my other 2 bins which are in a separate utility area.
This area is slabbed with large concrete slabs, cemented into place on top of about 6-8" of hardcore. I was concerned about the lack of soil contact. Needn't have worried! These 2 bins are absolutely teeming with worms and other composting friends. Worms lay eggs in soil and, as long as there's a bit of soil going in with plant roots etc, the eggs hatch and you get worms. A friend has one of those large tumbler bins which is several feet off the ground - and he also finds lots of worms in there.
The main advantages of compost bins on properly laid paving are -
heavy duty plastic bins become rat proof
it's really easy to dig out the finished product
it's easy to 'turn' the bin by just scraping out the contents and then refilling the bin
it's really easy to sweep up after emptying, turning or filling the bins
and I also think the slabs may provide some residual heat after sunny days which speeds up the whole composting process.
As Hosta said, any bin is better than no bin. However, I would now always put my bins on a hard base.
I'm a composting addict. It's almost a magical process to turn waste into black gold and once you've bought or made the bins it's all for free. What's not to love?
Thank you Topbird for such an informative post. Refreshing to find something other than the usual regurgitated set-in-stone 'advice' one finds so often in all gardening media. I had been led to believe that compost bins wouldn't work unless located on soil, so it is encouraging to learn this. Thank you.
Thank you Topbird for such an informative post. Refreshing to find something other than the usual regurgitated set-in-stone 'advice' one finds so often in all gardening media. I had been led to believe that compost bins wouldn't work unless located on soil, so it is encouraging to learn this. Thank you.
Stuff wants to break down, it's nature. Some methods work better for some than for others but , in the end, you'll get compost. I've got compost bins on soil, but last year I also filled up 80 builders' dumpy sacks too. Unlike @Lyn, I've never had rats in any compost I've ever made.
@Polygala Thanks for your comments and welcome to the forum🙂
As Hosta says - all garden stuff rots down eventually - even if you just stuff it in a corner and leave it.
The 'art' (for want of a better word) of composting for most of us is about producing good soil conditioner and mulch in as short a time period as possible. IMO proper layering of green, soft material with coarser brown material is the most important part of the process. I also turn the contents of the bins at least once during the process to get the drier cold stuff round the edges mixed in with the damper, warmer centre and (because I'm in a very dry part of the country) I usually water the bins about every 8 weeks. Dry bins rot down really slowly - but they don't want to be soaking wet either.
I also like to shred stuff before it goes in the bin. Twiggy stuff and small branches go through a shredder and green stuff is piled on the lawn and the mower run over the top.
I reckon to turn garden waste into usable compost in about 6-8 months. Love it!
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
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All I know for sure is that the bins are full of the little wrigglers.
@Ceres - I agree with your comments re those dalek style compost bins. Mine are heavy duty plastic panels which form a hexagonal (octagonal? - can’t remember!) shape with a folding lid. The sides completely open up to make loading and unloading very easy. Expensive to buy normally but the council were giving them away for £15 a pop about 15 years ago to encourage home composting. I took delivery of the maximum number!
Much like this: https://www.gardeningdelights.com/thermo-compost-bin-komp-700/
I've got compost bins on soil, but last year I also filled up 80 builders' dumpy sacks too.
Unlike @Lyn, I've never had rats in any compost I've ever made.
Thanks for your comments and welcome to the forum🙂
As Hosta says - all garden stuff rots down eventually - even if you just stuff it in a corner and leave it.
The 'art' (for want of a better word) of composting for most of us is about producing good soil conditioner and mulch in as short a time period as possible. IMO proper layering of green, soft material with coarser brown material is the most important part of the process. I also turn the contents of the bins at least once during the process to get the drier cold stuff round the edges mixed in with the damper, warmer centre and (because I'm in a very dry part of the country) I usually water the bins about every 8 weeks. Dry bins rot down really slowly - but they don't want to be soaking wet either.
I also like to shred stuff before it goes in the bin. Twiggy stuff and small branches go through a shredder and green stuff is piled on the lawn and the mower run over the top.
I reckon to turn garden waste into usable compost in about 6-8 months. Love it!