By Ostrich
East northants, United Kingdom
This may sound a bit pathetic but as the new owner of a compost bin (never had one before) is it OK to cut up dead annual plants eg. geraniums/pelargoniums which do not overwinter here & put them in the bin with other waste (nothing cooked)? I have previously put in my garden waste bin for council collection.
- 17 Feb, 2019
Answers
A covered container in the kitchen is useful. It took me ages to get out of the habit of just bunging tea bags & things straight in the bin...
I'm okay with putting cooked stuff in mine excluding meat & anything fatty. Stale bread, pasta, egg shells, cooked veg, etc. But watch out for vermin & bad smells so you can adjust accordingly.
A tool to make turning it regularly less of a chore is worth looking out for too: broken rake, sturdy hook on a pole, etc.
17 Feb, 2019
Every time I look in the top of my compost hin ( dalek ) there are huge numbers of worms, many stuck to the underside of the lid. so I don’t really like disturbing them. Should I really attempt to turn the top part as far as possible ??
17 Feb, 2019
Mine is the same bin as yours Hank and I too have lots of worms around the top. I don't need masses of compost and so I don't turn it at all, just tip it up and sieve it at once a year - my goodness do the mice jump out. I have the most wonderful, crumbly mixture which fills a black dustbin.
17 Feb, 2019
It shouldn't get smelly but if it does I find putting a couple of spades of soil on top gets it going again. Has anybody got a good way of turning compost in a Dalek? I bought a gadget with hinged blades that open out when you pull it out again but it didn't work.
17 Feb, 2019
I too tried the hinged blades Sue, and some years ago I set up a sort of scaffold so I could dig in the top of the dalek to loosen the soil, then used the blades.
It worked to some extent but I’ve never done it again so guess it was another failure.
17 Feb, 2019
I throw a couple scoops of garden soil on top. The microbes get to work immediately and it helps keep vermin away and bad odors.
17 Feb, 2019
Personally speaking, I think I neglected my previous compost dalek. If I'd have spent a few minutes more, at least once a week, giving it a deep turn I'd have got better results & it would've been easier to do each time.
Dragging the bottom layers out & tipping it back in the top might help where turning has got undoable?
Luckily I got a new one last week so I can try again...
18 Feb, 2019
Ooh some lovely answers there!! Thank you all...I think the turning bit might be interesting!! I am of certain years & anything requiring upper body strength is a little daunting!! Will give it a go.....like the "dalek" reference!!
18 Feb, 2019
I wish now I'd had a couple or three wooden bins where you can just haul stuff out from one to the other. Ostrich if turning it is too difficult why not just get a second one? When the first is full ignore it for a while and use the other. The first one will rot eventually and then you can lift the bin off the compost(though you may need help - OH does this for me)
18 Feb, 2019
And don't forget that even if it does not rot down cleanly, you can still bury it in the garden to finish off.
18 Feb, 2019
Or if you can spend a few quid more there's the tumbler type. They're like a barrel on it's side in a frame with a 'sort of' spitroast handle that you crank to mix & aerate the contents
18 Feb, 2019
Hank (and Ostrich!) and anyone else who's interested - the article below is worth a read, specially in regard to worms
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jun/27/want-rich-crumbly-compost-easy-way-become-worm-listener
18 Feb, 2019
Thanks B, will check it out.
21 Feb, 2019
Basically anything which has been alive can go on the compost heap. However, nothing diseased unless your heap gets very, very hot, nothing with persistent roots (dandelions, ground elder, bindweed etc), nothing cooked or food waste like bones or meat. Otherwise chuck it on. Just try to keep a balance between green stuff like grass mowings and brown stuff like plant stems.
Oh and if you want to start an argument, just ask any group of gardeners the best way to make a compost heap.
17 Feb, 2019