Apparently it helps to pee on the heap but I read somewhere that only applies to blokes.
I think that might only be because they have a built in hosepipe!!! - it's ok I'm going....
That is because womens pee is much to acid for the compost heap, mens isnt.
Well Lyn - thank you - I just learned something new today - I had no idea there was any difference between the final product whether it be male or female - but there is!! . I think that at the end of the day it won't do too much harm to use girl's stuff as well - but if we can encourage the men in our lives then it is better. Apparently some Nat Trust properties now have 'peeing bales' located in discreet corners of their estates for male members of staff to use. The bales are then added to the compost heaps to help things along
That's why I love this forum - all sorts of nuggets of information lying about
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
I turned mine today by tipping it all out then piling it back in again. This is my first year of making compost. How often should I do the turning process?
I'm going to turn mine thoroughly in just the way you describe (when the Under gardener has time to help me ) and then I'll cover the heaps and leave them for the winter. We'll have a look in the spring and see how they're doing.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
We have more grass cuttings than the compost bins can accommodate and make a big pile of them, starting new each year, in an out of the way place. You don't HAVE to do anything - if you wait long enough it all turns into compost, but if you need the space or the material, dig it out and let the air in as much as possible. Anything you add will help to speed up the process, but personally, I'd leave out the wee. You can't avoid the cat byproducts but please, not Grandad's piddle all over your boots as well!
When we were clearing up this land, we found the base of the old outside toilet. Since the old houses on site had no running water or sewerage, the toilet itself was just a bucket with a seat on it. The contents would eventually have been dug into the garden, usually the Veg plot too.
So for those worried about urine in the compost, by the time you come to use the stuff on the garden, the urine will have long been broken down by soil bacteria.
I turned mine today by tipping it all out then piling it back in again. This is my first year of making compost. How often should I do the turning process?
I think the honest answer Daryl is that the more frequently you can turn it the better - but for most of us that is a bit too much work. Personally I try to turn mine once when the bin is about half to two thirds full (exactly same method as you) & after that I just give it a bit of a stir with my garden fork whenever I add stuff.
Once the bin is full I leave it covered to "cook" for a few months but even then I give it a bit of a poke & stir round with my fork about every 2 - 3 weeks or so.
I don't wait until everything has turned into completely friable compost. I usually find that if the top 12" are well on the way - then anything about 2' down & below is ready for use. So the stuff that is not quite ready becomes the base layer of a new bin or added to the bin I was filling anyway.
Important thing to remember with compost making is that it will all rot down eventually even if you do nothing to it (or it is just a heap of grass cuttings). If, however, you get your mix of green & brown material right and you keep it aerated and (importantly) you make sure it is not too dry (water it if necessary) (but not wet!) - then you will get a finished / usable compost much sooner. You will develop a much better system if you have at least 2 bins. I use 3 - one to fill - one 'cooking' - and one with usable compost in.
Making compost is fun (for some of us saddos) & the site of a big pile of FREE soil improver makes my day - in a rather strange way!!!
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
can I take the opportunity to repeat a suggestion I made a while ago?
I contacted a local tree surgeon and asked if he ever has spare chipped material after a job . He said he sells what he can but sometimes has chip but no buyer. He now brings it round and dumps it by my compost bins and I layer it up with grass clippings.
I know I have lots of room and van access , but maybe speak to a local tree guy and he might let you have some , even if you have to collect it. Much better as otherwise he might have to pay to send it to landfill.
That does sound like a good idea Hosta but do you ever get any problems with fungi growing in the shreddings? If so, have they caused you any problems?
I had a (very) large ash bough removed 2 winters ago and I got the tree surgeon to fill one of my compost bins with some of the shreddings (as a place to store them).
About 3 months later I was ready to use them to spread as a thick layer to form paths around my newly planted raspberry canes. There were orange & yellow fungi & spores in the shreddings and after I had spread them more fungus appeared (this time it was leathery seaweed-like stuff). Because none of it looked like the dreaded honey fungus growth (& the parent tree was very healthy) I was not too concerned about it all and the fungus disappeared after a few weeks & has not returned. Nothing seems to have been harmed - rather the opposite in fact - everything in that area is doing very well
I was surprised by how rotted some of the shreddings were after only 3 months & certainly within a year of laying my chipping paths / mulch they have been totally incorporated into the soil. On the whole I think that (if there are no concerns around fungal growth) then wood chippings could be a good thing to mix with grass cuttings. I also think, however, I would want to be sure that the tree the wood came from was not infected with anything particularly nasty.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
he's brought me , literally, tons of the stuff. It's all rotted down, sometimes before it's even been added to the bins with grass clippings. If you don't like the look of it, don't use it, but that's never happened to me. Common sense approach I suppose.
Remember, compost basically breaks down with bacterial action, leafmould is formed by fungal action.
Posts
Well Lyn - thank you
- I just learned something new today - I had no idea there was any difference between the final product whether it be male or female - but there is!! 
. I think that at the end of the day it won't do too much harm to use girl's stuff as well - but if we can encourage the men in our lives then it is better. Apparently some Nat Trust properties now have 'peeing bales' located in discreet corners of their estates for male members of staff to use. The bales are then added to the compost heaps to help things along
That's why I love this forum - all sorts of nuggets of information lying about
I did wonder about that too Pansyface - hope they get supplied with Marigolds at the very least...
I'm going to turn mine thoroughly in just the way you describe (when the Under gardener has time to help me
) and then I'll cover the heaps and leave them for the winter. We'll have a look in the spring and see how they're doing.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
We have more grass cuttings than the compost bins can accommodate and make a big pile of them, starting new each year, in an out of the way place. You don't HAVE to do anything - if you wait long enough it all turns into compost, but if you need the space or the material, dig it out and let the air in as much as possible. Anything you add will help to speed up the process, but personally, I'd leave out the wee. You can't avoid the cat byproducts but please, not Grandad's piddle all over your boots as well!
When we were clearing up this land, we found the base of the old outside toilet. Since the old houses on site had no running water or sewerage, the toilet itself was just a bucket with a seat on it. The contents would eventually have been dug into the garden, usually the Veg plot too.
So for those worried about urine in the compost, by the time you come to use the stuff on the garden, the urine will have long been broken down by soil bacteria.
I think the honest answer Daryl is that the more frequently you can turn it the better - but for most of us that is a bit too much work. Personally I try to turn mine once when the bin is about half to two thirds full (exactly same method as you) & after that I just give it a bit of a stir with my garden fork whenever I add stuff.
Once the bin is full I leave it covered to "cook" for a few months but even then I give it a bit of a poke & stir round with my fork about every 2 - 3 weeks or so.
I don't wait until everything has turned into completely friable compost. I usually find that if the top 12" are well on the way - then anything about 2' down & below is ready for use. So the stuff that is not quite ready becomes the base layer of a new bin or added to the bin I was filling anyway.
Important thing to remember with compost making is that it will all rot down eventually even if you do nothing to it (or it is just a heap of grass cuttings). If, however, you get your mix of green & brown material right and you keep it aerated and (importantly) you make sure it is not too dry (water it if necessary) (but not wet!) - then you will get a finished / usable compost much sooner. You will develop a much better system if you have at least 2 bins. I use 3 - one to fill - one 'cooking' - and one with usable compost in.
Making compost is fun (for some of us saddos) & the site of a big pile of FREE soil improver makes my day - in a rather strange way!!!
can I take the opportunity to repeat a suggestion I made a while ago?
I contacted a local tree surgeon and asked if he ever has spare chipped material after a job . He said he sells what he can but sometimes has chip but no buyer. He now brings it round and dumps it by my compost bins and I layer it up with grass clippings.
I know I have lots of room and van access , but maybe speak to a local tree guy and he might let you have some , even if you have to collect it. Much better as otherwise he might have to pay to send it to landfill.
That does sound like a good idea Hosta but do you ever get any problems with fungi growing in the shreddings? If so, have they caused you any problems?
I had a (very) large ash bough removed 2 winters ago and I got the tree surgeon to fill one of my compost bins with some of the shreddings (as a place to store them).
About 3 months later I was ready to use them to spread as a thick layer to form paths around my newly planted raspberry canes. There were orange & yellow fungi & spores in the shreddings and after I had spread them more fungus appeared (this time it was leathery seaweed-like stuff). Because none of it looked like the dreaded honey fungus growth (& the parent tree was very healthy) I was not too concerned about it all and the fungus disappeared after a few weeks & has not returned. Nothing seems to have been harmed - rather the opposite in fact - everything in that area is doing very well
I was surprised by how rotted some of the shreddings were after only 3 months & certainly within a year of laying my chipping paths / mulch they have been totally incorporated into the soil. On the whole I think that (if there are no concerns around fungal growth) then wood chippings could be a good thing to mix with grass cuttings. I also think, however, I would want to be sure that the tree the wood came from was not infected with anything particularly nasty.
he's brought me , literally, tons of the stuff. It's all rotted down, sometimes before it's even been added to the bins with grass clippings. If you don't like the look of it, don't use it, but that's never happened to me. Common sense approach I suppose.
Remember, compost basically breaks down with bacterial action, leafmould is formed by fungal action.