Different way to compost?

ALIBOBSY

Read on a blog where the guy said he decided after having compost bins for years that alot of the goodness was simply washing away into the ground under the bins that he would try something new.

He saved his veggie peelings etc in a tub then dug holes either near larger plants or across empty beds prior to planting and popped the tub of "compostables" into the hole and covered with soil and let the worms get on with it. Sort of like a bean trench but on a bigger scale.

I am thinking for the next couple of months I may put my compostable bits in holes across the beds especially the bed where the squashes will be.

Just wondering if anyone else has tried this sort of thing?

Ali x

I_have_spoken

If I have any 'past it' bananas, I put them under garden plants.

Living_proof

Remembering how huge slugs once got into my compost bin, I rather think that they would be much encouraged to investigate all kinds of vegetable rubbish which would be easier to locate. Most gardening books stress how you should clear up leaves and rubbish before winter to deter slugs.

savemoney

I store my two dalek type compost bins on paving blocks. May also deter rats getting in. I got a large compost bin for allotment which I am going to put on ground might put some wire underneath to deter rats/mice

I am going to grow some comfrey this year for compost hopefully to improve the soil

ALIBOBSY

I have just recently ordered some comfrey seeds myself for feeding.

The slugs can try to go on the beds, but this time of year we let the chickens out to free range over the beds and they pretty much clear everything lol.

But something to think about down the line. I was thinking this time of year till things warm up really as compost just seems to sit there while its cold. Maybe I should just throw the stuff on the beds and let the chickens dig it in, hmmm...

Ali x

andrewf75

I'm sure composting in trenches works as well, but I wouldn't give up normal composting just because of one blog. I can't imagine what is washed out of the compost in a normal compost bin.

adouglasmhor

You might not get a good enough temperature in little holes and trenches to get rid of some nasties too compared to a proper heap or bin.

Mojisola

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

I have just recently ordered some comfrey seeds myself for feeding.

Unless you want your garden - and the neighbours' gardens - taken over by comfrey, buy Bocking 14 plants. This variety is sterile. You can increase your stock by taking root cuttings or splitting the main plant.

lostinrates

Isn't this sort of the theory behind self heated beds?

We made the best compost I've ever made since moving, forgot about dales and the like......made compost 'heaps' contained by palates which were stuffed with cardboard for a bit of insulation. Just chucked kitchen odd ments in there in paper bags or the thinner type of card board box and accepted it wasn't going to be a quick job. Yes, it took a year/18 months. But its finally the stuff I've dreamed of making in decent quantity. It got really hot, the pallets charred, we only tried turning it once, laughed at the effort and said we'd rather leave it longer.

Compared with the muck heap, which breaks much quicker because its turned more I suppose (we still stack muck in a fairly traditional way , but where we don' t we see a marked slower break down') but also because its digested and smaller particles to start with.

Mojisola

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

Read on a blog where the guy said he decided after having compost bins for years that alot of the goodness was simply washing away into the ground under the bins that he would try something new.

Why didn't his bins have covers on them to stop this?

He saved his veggie peelings etc in a tub then dug holes either near larger plants or across empty beds prior to planting and popped the tub of "compostables" into the hole and covered with soil and let the worms get on with it. Sort of like a bean trench but on a bigger scale.

Rats and slugs will enjoy the easy-access feed.

Small pits will not heat up so pathogens and seeds won't be killed off.

Waste rots down differently in anaerobic conditions - it takes much longer to produce compost and it smells bad (at best a sour stink, at worst like rotten eggs).

The worms that break down waste into compost aren't the same as the bulk of the worms which live in soil. It will take some time for enough to arrive and breed to work the compost. If the ground is wet, compost worms won't survive.

The nutrients from the compost will get flushed out every time it rains.

It's often worth experimenting with different systems - the traditional way isn't always the best or only way - but, if it was as easy as throwing everything in a pit, do you think the other methods would have been developed?

Mojisola

lostinrates wrote: »

Isn't this sort of the theory behind self heated beds?

No, because self-heating beds are created above ground out of the cold and wet. They are traditionally made up of a lot of straw and horse manure which creates a lot of heat.