Compost

[Bob Riley]

Do not throw away cardboard. Compost it instead, if you have a paper shredder tear up you household boxes
e.g. Felix Cat food Boxes into small strips then add them to your compost. It will rot down very soon and will lighten the load that your dustman has to take away to put into landfill sites.

If you invest in a compost tumbler you can have ready to use compost in 6 weeks instead of 6 months. For anybody considering living of the land, an efficient compost system is vital.

We have manged to find a compost tumbler from www.gonegardening.co.uk

[Janet Ash]

Re. persistent small flies around compost bin - any ideas about reducing nos?

[Bob Riley]

Get a Mcdonald's Fat Coke complete with straw in the centre of the plastic lid. Drink half of the contents leaving the straw just out of the syrup. The flies go down the straw to get the Coke but cannot get back out.
Also put lots of grass clippings on the top so that your yummy food like fruit is not so exposed

I hope this helps
Bob www.cottingham.ork.uk

[Bob Riley]

I like the idea of plants eating insects too

I saw the day of the triffids, kinda put me off buying flesh eating plants.

[Bec]

Hi all.

Anyone know how one can compost without a yard?? We have some space in our gutter - it is really wide and deep and at chest height outside our rooftop apartment..also it doesn't smell as there is so juch airflow up this high..so that's not the problem, it's how.

We thought of a bucket turned upside down but then there's no real drainage, or too much, or..I don't know.

Anyone?

[FluffyMuppet]

Hi Bec,

I don't know whether it would be suitable for your situation but you can compost without a garden using a worm composter. Basically all you need is a container for the worms (with suitable air flow) and some method of draining off the liquid that accumulates (very useful as a liquid feed for plants if you have any). The worms will live through the winter if they're kept from freezing; if the wormery is outside then a lid to keep the rain off is necessary.

There are several different designs on the market if you want to buy one, with different space requirements. I have a Can-O-Worms which I bought from Wiggly Wigglers (http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk) - it has lived in the garage for several years now.

[Wombat]

G'Day Bec,

Yep, I gotta go with Fluffymuppet on this one, worms are the way to go. I have had a worm farm for years and they are good value. I have seen where people have made their own rather than bougth them, using polystyrene foam veggie boxes. Much cheaper than the store bought ones which can be quite expensive, over here at least. I'll see if I can find the link.

Just out of interest, what are going to use the compost for?

Nev

[rafsal]

Notice that this site mentions that vermin is a problem if you try and compost cooked foods. Does anybody know what other problems can exist /be created if you throw everything into a "food" compost bin - with the occasional layer of cuttings and other greenery?

Does it slow the composting process down?
Does it make for poor quality compost?
My father mentioned that it could cause the wrong type of bacteria to be present in the compost, thus possibly attacking plants in the future.

Any thoughts/ideas anyone? The thought of chucking into the bin all that cooked food when it could be reused does our heads in - is there an alternative to binning it?

[judyofthewoods]

I confess, I put what little cooked food is left over (rare, I still have mother's words ringing in my ears, you can't go out until you've emptied your plate) onto the pile, and not had any problems. But I do compost stuff I dont want getting into the food chain seperatly, like bits of printed paper and cardboard (they don't recycle those here) and just leave the compost in situ in a tucked away spot, though admittedly I have the space to do it.

[Wombat]

We also compost the lot, with the exception of meat scraps - the books say it attracts vermin

[Andy Hamilton]

I don't put cooked food on my compost and I get your concerns about letting good food go to waste. Personally any food on my plate rarely goes to waste.

I was told by a workmate that I should not put any cooked food on a compost heap because of vermin. But I am beging to wonder if I should start. Anyway here is a useful resource http://www.mastercomposter.com for anyone new to composting.

[FluffyMuppet]

Hi guys,

As previously mentioned, cooked food and animal by-products on the compost heap can attract vermin. They can also smell pretty vile while they decay. I have read that you can compost small amounts of these items in a regular (or worm) compost bin, provided they are well chopped up and mixed with something rich in carbon (say newspaper).

You can also get closed composting systems which use enzymes to break them down. I've never tried it, but the http://www.livingsoil.co.uk/ website looks quite interesting.

Or you could make friends with someone with a pig