composting-ish

[Nikki]

hello everyone! it's been over a year since I dropped in here. I've been busy with a new baby (now 2yrs old) and hubby has been building our stone house. We're finally in our little haven up a mountain (Montenegro).

Sooo... a million and one things to do. One of the things I'm just dying to get going is composting. However, I'm a compost virgin and wimp.

Here is a break down (pun, oh yes):
1. Reducing waste is priority rather than having compost as such
2. we can't buy compost bins here and I don't want to tackle a large ground-sitting compost pile.... not yet anyway
3. from what I've read, we have almost zero brown stuff (at this time of year).
4. we have no shredder or lawn mower to shred anything.
5. we have cats, marauding dogs, snakes, scorpions, some mice, several wild furry creatures... and no fencing yet. So I don't want an open pile.

So I have a lot of kitchen waste which I've started collecting in a plastic container. But I just don't know where to start. I know I need Brown and Green and dampness. I'm not sure what is Brown other than leaves and twigs and bark. I've read so much about composting my head hurts but I don't feel much the wiser in real-life practical terms.
Do I just dump some Brown (what!?) in any garden barrel thingy, then throw in my kitchen waste and then maybe pee on it? :)

Really appreciate some beginner tips/advice.

[merv]

Nikki,

we count kitchen waste as green and mix with an approx equal volume of brown (sawdust from local saw mill) the green waste usully adds plenty of moisture. if there is too much then add a bit more brown. Texture is ok if it almost holds together when you squeeze a fistful. (Wear rubber gloves if you like, but don't be too squeamish; you were going to eat it yesterday !)

A plastic bin liner with a few holes in it will serve as your first compost "heap". Wrap it with chicken wire to keep out the marauding hordes. Fill it until you can just lift it comfortably (15 - 20 kg ?) then start another.

Turn your heap over every month or so, just tipping a full bag into an empty one will do. Compost should be ready to use in about three months, depends on the weather.

Good luck

Merv

[pelmetman]

Don't forget you can add newspaper & cardboard to the green stuff

[Flo]

Nikki - I always find the instructions posted here are ever so helpful. They suggest all sorts of ways that things can be done. It's simple in the way that it tells you to do things and covers almost everything that needs to be said. But best of all, it tells you simply which is what you need. I think they know that when you are starting out it's far to easy to be confused. So they do their best not to add to the confusion.

[Thomzo]

Don't worry too much about getting the mix exactly right. Nature manages all by itself and has never read a book.

Shredded paper is great as "brown" in the compost heap. Stir it in well or it does tend to clump up.

As mentioned, black bags, or compost/feed bags are great. Pop them in the middle of the veg patch and the water that drains out of them is great for the soil. When they are ready just slit the bottom and spread out the compost. No lumping it around.

If you want something a bit more solid then you can use a water butt, the liquid will drain out of the tap and you can collect it in a bottle underneath. Failing that, a dustbin, just drill a hole in the bottom to let it drain. With both of these, it's best if you can add some soil and worms from the garden to start things off.

Zoe

[Nikki]

okay, this is really helpful. I had no idea a bin liner could be used! So that or a water butt, or anything similar as long as we have holes in the bottom. Got it.

Now I just need to work out what brown to use. I can shred paper by hand at least and cardboard. That and kicthen waste, a little gree clippings, plus some soil from the garden. Is this enough?
I'll check that link too.

[Thomzo]

Sounds perfect to me.

[Millymollymandy]

Toilet roll carboard (unless you are planting in them). Straw is great 'brown' if you have any animals or chooks? Also woody plant prunings i.e. the dead stalks etc you chop off in the late winter from perennial flowering plants, cut them up small and add to the mix. Don't use really big woody stuff though as it just won't rot down.

[pumpy]

Another method is to dig a trench, say 6" deep, chuck your waste stuff in it & cover as you go. Then plant your veg/whatever on top..... works in most soil-types.

[Peggy Sue]

Well your opening line scared me and I'm a compost freak. I love it but if I thought there would be snakes in there I'd be gone

If you can ge a bit of horse poo or chicken poo to give it a boost it pays real dividends. I put as much muck as I can in and turn it as often as I can- the tought of snakes when I turn it

[Millymollymandy]

Oh our first year here we found some strange looking eggs and then a load of lovely little baby grass snakes which we relocated (eggs and babies) along with a few buckets of compost to our woodland area. Took a photo too but I won't post it for your sake PS.

[homegrown]

nikki
suggest you use natures composting method

chickens and a worm farm will just about take care of most things and provide excellent garden food in return as well as eggs, if not add a pig.

mmmmmmm bacon and eggs

[Pennylane]

Another method is to dig a trench, say 6" deep, chuck your waste stuff in it & cover as you go. Then plant your veg/whatever on top..... works in most soil-types.

This is a method I use through the winter and then plant my runner beans on the top when they are ready to go in the spring..by the time their roots hit the compost they are just the right size to have a boost by the extra nutrients.I dig the trench a bit deeper..spade depth though. I like this as all the hard work is done a bit at a time in the winter with a ready row waiting to be planted in the spring.

[Cassiepod]

Pumpy/Pennylane, With the trench digging I've alway wondered, how do you stop any hungry animals coming in and digging it all up whilst you're mid trench?

[Nikki]

hey guys, you inspired and encouraged me to finally start. so we bought a water butt, with a great lid.

i have so much kitchen waste, and am loving being able to do something with it. but the lack of Brown is worrying me. lists says straw is a Brown (carbon)... but garden waste is Green (nitrogen). if i allow garden waste (i'm thinking wild alfalfa and nettles) to dry out completely, does it make it Brown? because we have a ton of that and i'm thinking it's great nutrients too. ??

seeing kitchen waste go mouldy in there made me add soil. at the mo, it's mostly kitchen waste, newspaper and soil. ???