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Compost bin
CluelessGardener
Posts: 878
in Talkback
I've finish my compost bin well nearly but what would you put in the bottom first inch or two I thought I would put my conifer chippings in first but they contain to much acid so I'm thinking off bark or horse muck
before I add the compost I've been collection in green bins
what do you think ??
here is a photo of my newly made compost bins
0
Posts
That's a lovely bin James. artjak can tell you what to put in it. She's been on the course
In the sticks near Peterborough
I tend to put things like the twiggy dried stems of perennials at the bottom of my compost heaps, to make sure there's a good airflow at the bottom of the heap.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I put twiggy bits that havn't rotted well the first time round in the bottom. It all get mixed up anyway, but I believe the received wisdom is twiggy stuff in the bottom. Is that on a soil base so that the worms can get in, or are you going to add a starter of some brandlings and a bit of finished compost?
Thank you Nut
one side is for compost the left is for brown and I'm going to use my green bins(2) for storing green waste (grass cuttings)
James
Ok so a bag of bark first Yes it's on a soil base
I located the bin near the drive so I can turn the compost from the green bins before adding them to my compost bin
James
They look really well built. Can you still read your gas meter though or is that not their final resting position?
yes you can still get to the meter and open them. all you have to do is pull the bins out (ones with wheels on them)
James
Dear CluelessG, I have not really understood this bit about 'green here' and 'brown there'. From the Compost Master Course I learnt that compost heaps or bins should be 50% green (nitrogen) and 50% brown (carbon). Green stuff is obvious; brown encompasses; straw, paper (scrunched up to carry air into the heap) cardboard, eggboxes etc. Also dried stems/leaves of plants (not trees - that would be for making leaf mould) Personally I like to start a new bin with a good shovel of horse manure. If you can't get this, don't worry; the red worms will arrive anyway, you don't need to get any. An addition of human pee from time to time will act as an acelerator, but being a ladee I use a compost acelerator from the Garden Centre. What is IMPORTANT is to keep the thing airobic; full of air/ light and fluffy
by turning it frequently. Aim for once a week in the summer and once 2 weeks in the winter; if you achieve half of that it will be fine. If it becomes anairobic (smelly, slimey
) turn it thoroughly and add more browns.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Posh looking bins Clueless.
I have four daleks that stand on soil and at the start of each I put a covering of compost / garden soil and build up from that. Works for me.
I have a great mountain of mixed stuff that breaks down eventually. There's always something left behind and that goes back in another heap
In the sticks near Peterborough