Composting

slinga

It must have been done somewhere but I searched and zilch.


Can I compost shredded Bay stems.
Can I compost shredded rosemary.
Can I compost shredded lavender stems


Thanks all.

DaftyDuck

Yes.
Yes.
Yes.

Your compost will smell wonderful! Being a bit woody, they'll need a mix with other stuff

Farway

Put them in little muslin bags & flog on fleabay as herbal sachets, or Pot Pourri:D

Joke BTW before someone leaps in guns blazing

elaineruk

You can compost more or less anything that will biodegrade - My dad used to chuck his old yfronts on the heap much to my mum's chagrin They used to all breakdown from the hot composting process besides for the elastic :eek:

Out,_Vile_Jelly

My partner cuts his own hair and puts it on his compost heap, insisting the worms love it. Toenail clippings are also a delicacy for them apparently....

Davesnave

You need a good mix of different material for composting; not too much soft stuff like grass clippings, which will go soggy and slimy on their own; and not too many thick twigs, because they will take longer to rot. A little twiggy stuff does keep the heap more 'open,' allowing vital oxygen into it.

Things like bay, lavender and rosemary are ideal, being neither very woody, or gooey and soft.


To assist the growth of micro-organisms which do the work, people often add activtors. These can be bought, but why buy when there's a perfectly good supply in one's bladder? Pee is very MSE! :A


The other activator and compost all-in-one is comfrey. Grow a bit of it in that odd space behind the shed and you can add it to the heap, or stick it in an old water butt and make liquid feed, instead of buying Tomorite......



What's that? It smells when steeped in water for a week? Yes, well, like medicine tastes bad and does you good, comfrey water stinks worse than pig manure, so that proves it's absolutely wonderful!



Don't get it on you or your clothes, though, It doesn't do a lot for one's social image, or love life! :cool:


Edit: I forgot the worms....:o Build it, they will come.

Farway

Davesnave wrote: »

Edit: I forgot the worms....:o Build it, they will come.

I've always found this part amazing, no matter how hard you look when digging you never find brandling worms, build a compost heap and squillions appear from nowhere

Like frogs & ponds

Primrose

And remember this weather to give your compost heap a regular drink of water to speed up the rotting process. I have two wire compost cages with some potatoes growing in my more mature one so that's an incentive to remind me to give it a regular water. That and the current heat is ensuring it's been rotting down at a rate of knots!