Idiot's Guide To Composting Please!

londonsurrey

kazschow wrote: »

Can you compost egg shells and pet hair? I have big hairy dogs, and groom out bag loads of hair regulalrly

Yes, I have a dozen cats, and compost their fur.

Have you looked at the expensive coir mats you can buy for the tops of wormeries? I put half my harvested fur in a layer on top, in lieu of a costly coir mat.

lostinrates

kazschow wrote: »

can you compost egg shells

yes, but they can attract rats. I keep them in a roasting tin kept for the purpose, and put it in the over after cooking to dry out and ''bake'' them. This reportedly reduces the attractiveness of them. BUT I don't put them on the heap, I crunch them...they are VERY sharp and brittle at this stage, and out them around the most tender plants...they make it horrid for slugs/snails to crawl across, as are much sharper than something like gravel.

Eenymeeny

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

No nonsense guides:

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/growyourown/posters-resources.php

Click on the composting guide - free to download.

or if you prefer book form

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garden-Organic-Book-Compost/dp/1847734375/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314722727&sr=1-3 out next week

Great links thanks, just what I was looking for...:T

Eenymeeny

Had a busy day in the garden adding all of the green bits, which would have gone into the green bin before, into my new compost bin. I'm a very happy bunny! Thanks everyone who helped :T

londonsurrey

Good to hear that you've been sucked into the strange joy of eyeing up stuff with a view as to whether it will go in the compost bin.

Eenymeeny

Got 2 vases of flowers that are starting to look a bit iffy... never been in a hurry to throw them out before! :rotfl:

londonsurrey

Lol@Eeny

Now onto level 2 - I put my gunky aquarium water on my compost heap.
At what point does one qualify as a composting nutter?

Eenymeeny

Nice one! I've just caught myself eyeing up a pear in the fruit bowl that I would have normally left for a 'few more days' ... Stand back from the fruit bowl!:rotfl:

mandragora_2

londonsurrey wrote: »

Other than chucking them in the landfill bin, is there anything useful and ecofriendly I can do with them?

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall asked the same question, and tried cooking them once - did you see that programme? He's a brave man with a healthy appetite, and they tried a multitude of things, similar to the ways the French would tackle snails. They lost me at stage one where they left them in water for several hours to 'get rid of the mucus', but even with a lot of faffing about and a number of recipes they only came up with one useful solution. Feed them to the hens. :rotfl:

kiwichick

Feed em to the hens is perfect. My neighbour keeps chickens, geese, ducks and peacocks at the bottom of his garden. My veg patch and compost bin backs on to them, my kids love picking the slugs and snails off and chucking them the the birds, the birds love it too!!