Compared to mine that looks like a very posh compost bin. Like the idea of using the top as a work surface. Two of my bins are made of pallets but I just hold them together with zip ties.
@LeadFarmer. Wire mesh is good for making leaf mould but no good for compost making, you need the sides filled in and a lid of carpet or/and metal sheeting, it just won’t get hot enough in open sided box.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
@LeadFarmer. Wire mesh is good for making leaf mould but no good for compost making, you need the sides filled in and a lid of carpet or/and metal sheeting, it just won’t get hot enough in open sided box.
I find grass cuttings get the compost really hot, regardless of whether the sides are solid or not.
Well today is the day when I start my new hobby of compost making. I have 3 compost heaps and get compost eventually but today they are having a jolly good sort out and are being done properly. Time isn't on my side at my grand old age. It was arranged a week or so ago that my odd job man friend was coming today to give me a hand.
Yesterday I asked a friend if he had anything that my heaps could be boarded out with kicking about in his barn and he said look in to see if there's anything suitable and if there is take what you want. First thing I saw was an 8ft x 4ft sheet of Kingspan insulation board. Behind that are 3 sheets of 8ft x 4ft plywood. Pure joy.
I found that layering didn't work for me. Chopping it up, mixing it up, works well. Also slatted bins or bins with holes in the side let it get too dry. The huge tardis I have are good for final maturation for the smaller daleks and rotol with no ventilation at all are better for the initial heat up, and keep the water /cpndensation in. Also they lift off easier , like a jelly mould , to make it easier to shovel the contents into the next bin.
I call myself a lazy composter. I put everything, except cooked food, on my compost heap, just a heap on top of the soil in a quiet corner. Weed seed heads and woody branches go on the bonfire, along with paper. I leave my heap for a year and then take from the bottom, returning anything uncomposted. I am not able to turn my heap now, too much for me. I am going to ask my new neighbour if she will give me her chicken waste to put on my heap. I have wanted to use pallets to contain my heap but could never find a way to secure them which I could do, I am going to try the plastic tie idea, so easy. Why didn't I think of that? I am in the process of having a bonfire, there will be a big heap of ash to put back onto the garden, all free. I sometimes have a shredding session and shred household paper, mainly bin fodder through the post, letters, etc which I put on the compost heap. I never water it, but do sometimes add some activator such as Garrota, other brands available, to help it along. I do not have a lawn so no lawn cuttings for me.
The compost heaps were started and basic structures were finished and I was chuffed with the days work.
First compost heap. First pic is the before one and consisted of dried beech leaves from last year that hadn't started to decompose so I dug them out and chopped them up with the rotary mower into leaf litter. I also had 6 half bags of leaves from last year that hadn't started to decompose either so chopped them up too and put it all back into the bin and watered it well. Second pic is an almost completed job. I've ordered a roll of green foil covered bubble wrap which I'll wrap around the bin and make a lid which will help to warm things up to hopefully accelerate to process of giving me some fabulous compost next spring.
Have you got something to check temps with UFF? You might like to leave the lid off to get some rain in if needed, my latest one is dying or at least, slowed (for the worms to do it) and I think it's because it's been too dry. I opened it up and it was warm (it went up to 40c), but then went down and it was white inside. I'm hoping the current and forecast rain and some turning will set it off again.
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Two of my bins are made of pallets but I just hold them together with zip ties.
Yesterday I asked a friend if he had anything that my heaps could be boarded out with kicking about in his barn and he said look in to see if there's anything suitable and if there is take what you want. First thing I saw was an 8ft x 4ft sheet of Kingspan insulation board. Behind that are 3 sheets of 8ft x 4ft plywood. Pure joy.
I'll report back later with pics.
I am in the process of having a bonfire, there will be a big heap of ash to put back onto the garden, all free. I sometimes have a shredding session and shred household paper, mainly bin fodder through the post, letters, etc which I put on the compost heap. I never water it, but do sometimes add some activator such as Garrota, other brands available, to help it along. I do not have a lawn so no lawn cuttings for me.
First compost heap.
First pic is the before one and consisted of dried beech leaves from last year that hadn't started to decompose so I dug them out and chopped them up with the rotary mower into leaf litter. I also had 6 half bags of leaves from last year that hadn't started to decompose either so chopped them up too and put it all back into the bin and watered it well.
Second pic is an almost completed job. I've ordered a roll of green foil covered bubble wrap which I'll wrap around the bin and make a lid which will help to warm things up to hopefully accelerate to process of giving me some fabulous compost next spring.
To be continued...
You might like to leave the lid off to get some rain in if needed, my latest one is dying or at least, slowed (for the worms to do it) and I think it's because it's been too dry. I opened it up and it was warm (it went up to 40c), but then went down and it was white inside.
I'm hoping the current and forecast rain and some turning will set it off again.