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... the sky is baby blue, and the just-unfurling leaves ...
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Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 18 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Gregotyn, a compost heap should never have a roof or a floor. You want contact with soil on the bottom. The leaves/weeds/greens/stuff on the top should be slightly dished/hollow on top to receive moisture. Never soggy, but about as damp as a squeezed out sponge.

Corner posts will help stabilize the pallets better than just wire to hold things together.



This is my compost heap set up - three bins using fence posts, wooden rails on sides and back, bamboo culms in front for ease in dropping fencing when shoveling out. One bin for finished compost, one for stuff in process of rotting, third bin for current additions. Plastic coated fencing wire as it lasts better than uncoated wire which tends to rust out.

Never got to NYBG for the holiday train show press preview. Traffic was horrendous. It's an 86 mile drive, one way. Took 1 hour 20 minutes to drive 29 miles and the highway was congested as far as I could see. Plus the reports were for a 45 minute to one hour delay to cross the GW Bridge across the Hudson River. So we bailed. So sad.

And anywhere from 1 to 4 inches of snow forecast for the end of the week. Phooey!

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 18 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That's a nice set up Jam Lady. We use western red cedar board cut with a notch at each end top and bottom so they slot together but leave a gap between them. We take off boards as we dig out the heap, and they can be moved easily. I have just set up a bed on the raised bed that will be my onion bed next year and am doing a mixture of turning of the last heap and adding new to it. If stuff isn't composted by the time I come to put in the onion sets, I will just move it onto the new heap. I will also add a layer of biochar every so often.

Gregotyn, 4 pallets wired together should be good. You can put the leaves in there and just let them rot. Should end up with good leaf mould. Our raised beds have lasted a good while, but as we have plenty of western red cedar we will be using that for replacements rather than buying in oak. We have some, but not a lot, so it is rather valuable to us.

Managed to get my second batch of quince wine into the demijohn yesterday evening so only a second batch of quince jelly to go and that is all the quinces used up.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 18 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Jam Lady wrote:
Gregotyn, a compost heap should never have a roof or a floor.


So does than mean that the compost bins that the council provide, that have lid on are not very good?

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 18 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

If there is a lid how does moisture get to the material that's to become compost. If it has a solid floor how do the good microorganisms and earthworms get in there.

Leaves and weeds and kitchen waste should be inoculated with an occasional shovel's worth of good soil, or compost. The pile should be kept about as damp as a squeezed out wet kitchen sponge. You want aerobic / with oxygen decomposition, not soggy wet / anaerobic / smelly decay.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45372
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 18 2:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sgt.colon wrote:
Jam Lady wrote:
Gregotyn, a compost heap should never have a roof or a floor.


So does than mean that the compost bins that the council provide, that have lid on are not very good?


they have uses but compost in a chuck it in get compost way is not one of them

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 18 7:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think the plastic ones that can be turned might work as they do at least aerate the compost, but as you say Jam Lady, they don't let water and worms in. I have a plastic one that has an open bottom, but I only use that one for things like potato hulms that I want to keep isolated so any disease doesn't spread. It seems to rot down all right, but worms and water from the soil can get into it.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 18 10:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thank you all. The ones I have don't have a bottom but do have lids, so I will make sure I leave the lids off once I start composting.

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 18 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I suppose I should have thought about composting and related it to the manure heap that I was sent to turn periodically. Such a heap is one stage further down the line to a conventional, compost heap. Pig manure and straw was what we used to have to turn for the farm prior to being used on the college farm for potatoes-bit late to realise that 50 years on!

I have a plastic compost bin thinking about it, a neighbour gave it to me a few years back, conical shaped but has a lid and no base, I will just have to take the lid off. I am a bit worried that the local rat and mouse population will get in there and use its warmth as a breeding hotel-polite description!

They who know are promising snow in the next 2 weeks, but today is lovely-sunny, bright blue sky, and not cold-pullover, but no jacket today-all day. I am hoping it will last as it is, I need a lot more wood chopped if it turns too soon! The kindling is flying off the shelves 40 nets last week alone and I am nowhere near that in production terms this season. I will need to do about 20 nets this weekend plus cutting tonight and chopping tomorrow, must get the stock up in case I am not well or any other problems arise. Customers rule and they pay the council rates!

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 18 7:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The one we have without a base has a lid, and I leave it closed, but it is designed to rot stuff down completely rather than compost it. We use chicken wire over the base of ours so that it can get in contact with the soil but keeps the rats out. I use that one only for things I don't want on the main heap, like remains of pigeons the Peregrine has left, potato hulms etc. Most things go on the open topped and bottomed heap.

We sold another 20 log sacks yesterday, but managed to make some more, so at least we have another 20 in stock. It has been mild here too, so a couple of our outlets that have the storage space have stocked up a bit. I will just carry on making them so we have a store too.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 18 11:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

So if I'm just putting general compost-able stuff in there I.E veg peelings, green matter, I'm okay to leave the lid off? Other stuff like cooked meat, bones and the likes go in our green wheelie bin for the council to recycle.

There's a cold snap coming next week so I'm sure your logs will start going.

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8571
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 18 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think it depends on the rainfall you have and general temperature.
I've always had a lid and a cover, usually old carpet/underlay to stop the heap getting sodden and to keep the heat in.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 18 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Not straight forward is it GZ?

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 18 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Nothing is straightforward, sgt, ever. I am going to start a compost heap at some point but I've bagged the leaves, it was a faster route. It rains a lot my way so, when I make a proper bin I will always have a lid and leave the sides open. The other thing is not to put any animal waste in the compost as it attracts the rats including gravy! I am nearly 1000ft. up the hill, so compost doesn't make fast up here in any event.

I have had a good day in work this morning tidied up lots of bits that have been waiting for a few days to do, so my desk is almost clear. This is good because a big job has been delivered and I will have to do that in one go and as we have no deliveries on Monday's, that is a good day to get carried away and check in and put away around 1000 items-around 300 individual boxes usually.

I have to put in another 10 kindling nets today in the shop, it is going so fast I wonder if I should damp it down a bit!!
See you all tomorrow.

Hairy Mary



Joined: 06 Oct 2018
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 18 4:20 pm    Post subject: Compost bins Reply with quote
    

I use the dalek (conical type), open bottom, lid on top, made of plastic. Keep putting veg peels etc in, add shredded paper, torn up cardboard, garden waste (green or brown), avoid tomato or potato if there's any sign of blight. Also grass cuttings, don't put in huge lumps of anything - layering greens then browns, give it a fork over if you fancy it, but I don't! If it get really dry you can add a bit of water, but better still urine. You can chop up big thick woody stuff for faster composting. Keep autumn leaves separate to make it into leaf mould - I find that is better in unlidded home-made wire bins. When I use compost I just shovel it into a big sieve over a wheelbarrow and chuck any big bits back in the compost bin - it will compost eventually. I also sometimes mix it with well-rotted horse manure (or other livestock as available) when I spread it onto the raise beds for veg. You can do this now so that the worms and weather can do their bit over the winter.
Keep on composting!

lowri



Joined: 18 Oct 2006
Posts: 1322
Location: ceredigion
PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 18 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have one of the bottomless compost makers but haven't used it in a long time. The lid was very difficult to get off. It also had mice in it! I do remember that I mustn't put eggshells in as they take aeons to disintegrate!

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