Garden Composter

Gopppers

Hi all, I have a question about my garden composter... we have one and my OH has/had (mostly) been filling it with grass cuttings amongst other things like some weeds and green kitchen waste. But the stuff that is in the compost bin is not doing anything, it just looks like dried dead stuff not the magical rotted down compost I expect to see. Now the bin is in the shadiest part of the garden (hardly gets any sun) and is directly on top of the mud/soil which is the dampest part of the garden where we have had problems with drainage... Any ideas on how to get some nice rotted, home-made compost please? The stuff that is in the compost bin has been in there for at least a year btw.

Thanks
Gops x

Optimisticpair

On top of soil is a good place to site a bin but I think it will go faster in a sunnier place if possible where it can heat up. You can make it cold and anaerobically (without air) but the beasties that do the work go much slower so it takes a longer time to turn into black gold. It sounds like it has got too dry and maybe has had too thick a layer of grass clippings and not enough air for the aerobic beasties in there. Have you tipped it out and had a look at the bottom layer and the inner core?

Here's a website that explains a lot

http://www.homecomposting.org.uk/content/view/18/52/

Gopppers

No not tried looking to see what is at the bottom but will have a good look tonight... i will tell my OH to stop filling it up with too much grass clippings and take it from there... thanks for the link!

suisidevw

how about some scrunched up paper and urine watered down 4:1?!

Kay_Peel

I would add some brown waste to the mixture - cardboard, newspaper, shredded credit card bills, egg boxes, brittle twigs, feathers from old pillows and pure woollen jumpers that have been cut to shreds.

Start collecting some brown waste now and put it in a bin liner or other container standing near the compost bin.

One good tip is NOT to put your grass clippings inside the compost bin straight away. The clippings will compost faster if you let them dry in the sun. I heap mine in a sunny spot for about 4 days. I turn the heap over a few times to let the sun get to the soggy bits. Then I gather it up and put it in a 3" layer in the bin. I put some 'brown waste' on top of that and I top it off with another layer of grass clippings.

Within a matter of hours it starts to heat up and do the business. Give it a try!

tomtiddly

If a BBC news article I read a few months ago is to be believed it will speed things up if you get any male visitors to...er.. well, use the compost heap instead of the indoors loo