Gardening Questions Composting

This is pretty much how we began - we found what was essentially a bottomless plastic bin (but no cut away door at the bottom) - against the rules we put it on a concrete floor rather than soil. Then we filled it: with cuttings that we cut into about one inch lengths, annual weeds that hadn't gone to seed, some dirt, shredded paper and egg boxes, egg shells, the dirt from those pots of herbs you buy at the supermarket, daffodil leaves once they started to die back, and some compost activator - could be urine, could be powdery stuff you can buy from the garden centre depending upon how fussy you are. We didn't put grass cuttings in it - they have a tendency to make the mixture too slushy and disappear to nothing. At the other extreme, brown leaves take an eternity to break down and prunings from conifers take ages and can be too acid for most purposes. In a small space I suspect a good balanced mix of materials is the key.
Because we got a balanced mix of materials, we suspect, we found that we didn't need to turn the heap, but that sieving it was worthwhile because it doesn't break down as quickly as in a big compost bin. It is supposed to be better to put the bin over soil as that makes it easier for the worms to get in - but it's not essential in our experience. Allow the dirt from some weeds and plants to enter your heap and you'll soon get the necessary bacteria and worms you need.

Forgot to say with regard to vermin - with the closed plastic bin system and if you put no cooked food or wheat products on it, you should be okay. We've had no vermin so far, but I can't speak for others.

HI ANDREA I GOT MY COMPOST BIN FROM MY LOCAL COUNCIL FOR £5.00 IT CAME WITH A BOTTLE OF ACCELERATOR AND SOME HINTS AND TIPS AND WAS WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT ,MAYBE IT MAY BE WORTH A QUICK CALL TO SEE IF YOURE COUNCIL DOES THE SAME .GOOD LUCK.

We also got first bin from the council and then another of our own. We put lots of vegetable peelings, fruit, weeds etc.The council officer said they had done experiments to see whether the compost needed turning and actually showed it worked better if it wasnt turned. I think if it's open at the bottom you get the worms needed for breakdown more quickly. We did get mice at first and had to bury the rim at the bottom so they couldn't get in. Haven't had any more, although next door's decking provided a home for rats which we had to leave poison out for in a container that birds etc can't enter. We put the compost on the garden after a year - it looked very good.