Homemade compost is so exciting! (MERGED)

absfabs

akh43 wrote: »

Has anyone ever converted an old black plastic dustbin into a compost bin, is it possible? Want to try and recycle and compost more but they are £27 to buy in my area and I have an old black bin in my garden doing nothing.

Any tips on how to do this (if it is possible) appreciated.

Thanks

Yes, I have 3 of them out the back, used them before the "daleks" got popular. We have 1 of them as well, it does have a larger capacity and I think it rots down a bit quicker.
Am not getting rid of my old dustbins, though, the do work.

PS I haven't cut the bottoms out, they keep any rats out, and as my bins stand on concrete it makes no difference. Just make sure plenty of drainage holes drilled in the bottom. The worms do get in okay.

Ziggymole

Hi,

After 600+ posts and 32 pages my head is totally crammed with all your wonderful hints, tips and advice. Pine needles and strawberries is the most memorable, I just binned them before. I can't wait to start composting and you can guarantee I'll be back for advice.

Many thanks to you all for contributing,
Jan

bonsibabe

welcome ziggy!!! there is a great blog on the www that gave me loads of inspiration for my composting. its http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/composting (not sure if I can post it but here it is). its not my blog so i'm not advertising. they had loads of info on composting which i found really interesting.

good luck!!!

showtunesgirl

Ziggymole wrote: »

Pine needles and strawberries is the most memorable, I just binned them before.

That was me! :hello: I did it again this year and my strawberries were blooming! The slugs hate the prickliness of the pine needles and I found out recently that there's something in the make up of needles when they decompose that acts as a weed suppressant as well!

Sugar_Junkie

I could do with a bit of advice please and this looks like the place. I finally want to get a compost bin on the go as I feel like I'm wasting a resource chucking everything in the bin. I don't have a very big garden and I'd say about two thirds is a slightly sloped wooded area which is where I want to put the bin. I'm in two minds about which type to get though. I've seen the dalek shaped ones which I could get subsidised but was thinking a wooden one would be larger and easier to turn the compost in. I've narrowed it down to this style http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/buy_a_bin/scheme_authorities/merseyside.html or this style http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Load-Wooden-Compost-Composter-Litres/dp/B001VCNZXK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1248720579&sr=8-3. Can anyone with experience give me a bit of advice over which would be better. There's only the two of us in the house so we don't make masses of waste and there's the garden waste I will put in but I'm wondering if the wooden one will be too big for us.. help!

bonsibabe

hi sugar junkie. well i have a family of 5 and we have a dalek which is still only half full and we have had it for about 5 months now! everything that can go in does go in and we are nowhere near filling it up yet!!! we got 2 subsidised and i don't know if we will even use the second one this year! I might have to use the second one next year and try to just mulch the first one down!!!

The daleks are well easy to use, I can highly recomend them!

Mrs_Beatson

akh43 wrote: »

Has anyone ever converted an old black plastic dustbin into a compost bin, is it possible? Want to try and recycle and compost more but they are £27 to buy in my area and I have an old black bin in my garden doing nothing.

Any tips on how to do this (if it is possible) appreciated.

Thanks

Hello there!!! I live in the Test Valley Borough Council part of England, roughly speaking Hampshire and they offer the usual compost bins for sale at around £20 BUT they also offer a wheelie bin with the wheels and bottom cut off free of charge. I ordered mine yesterday and it was on my doorstep this morning!!

So, clearly the council think it would work!! I think it would need a lid though.

Cut the bottom off and go for it I say!

Best of luck!!

Im off now, to get started on mine (Funny how the strangest things excite me, since I started coming to this site :rotfl:)

mardatha

We got two and the second one's almost full. God knows what to do next, I can't have a garden full of daleks ! Think they were £6 each.

Primrose

mardatha - Our second compost cage is almost full too, but I find it's surprising how quickly a pile of twigs, leaves and other stuff can rot down, especially in warm weather when the process takes less time. . You start off with it piled high above the top of the cage and by the time the process has completed, you end up with less than two thirds a cage/container of compost. However, when you've been doing that, and supplementing with manure in a garden for as long as we have (30 years), you end up with another problem.. All our borders are now several inches higher than they were originally because of all the extra humus which has been dug in and all the bottoms of our fences are rotting. When you're a gardener, you can't win!

akh43

Mrs_Beatson wrote: »

Hello there!!! I live in the Test Valley Borough Council part of England, roughly speaking Hampshire and they offer the usual compost bins for sale at around £20 BUT they also offer a wheelie bin with the wheels and bottom cut off free of charge. I ordered mine yesterday and it was on my doorstep this morning!!

So, clearly the council think it would work!! I think it would need a lid though.

Cut the bottom off and go for it I say!

Best of luck!!

Im off now, to get started on mine (Funny how the strangest things excite me, since I started coming to this site :rotfl:)

My only reservations are how do you get the compost out when its ready (how will I know its ready?) as there will be no opening as there are on most proper compost bins or do you just lift up the bin at the bottom and take it out? Do I just put all the compostable items in the bin and leave it or do I have to turn it somehow to mix it all up?

I am intending to put mine on my concrete path in the corner with some cardboard underneath (think I read about this somewhere) unless anyone can suggest anything better. I just need to remove the bottom off the bin now and I can get started.

Any tips greatly appreciated.