compost bins

[Rheghead]

Does anyone know where I could get a wooden compost bin to replace the old coal bunker, (with the bottom falling out- not ideal) that I am using at the moment? I've tried our local garden centres without much luck.

[Ricco]

Rheghead,

Hi - I have always found that old pallets make the best compost bins. Fix three together (slats facing in, obviously) to form the sides and back. Then simply tie a fourth on for the front. Cover with some old sacking or tarp.

I have one of those council plastic jobs right now and it is totally pants! Takes a couple of years for anything to rot down.

[sjwahwah]

yep... ricco speaks sense... go for pallets and hot composting...

[sweetpea]

I have one of the plastic ones as well and it is 'pants'. Had stuff in it since last year and no further on. I got pallets last week but not sure how to fix them together

[Rheghead]

Thanks for all the replys. It was my other half that posted the post though my username and oh dear, she has got a couple of plastic compost bins. She says that the instructions say to pile the contents on the sides of the bin for maximum effect. Do you think that will make a difference?

[sweetpea]

I wouldn't like to say but my experience is that the stuff I put in there (mostly soft hedge, grass clippings and tattie peel) is still not rotted yet. I have it on bare ground too so the worms can get in but ........
I'm busy trying to think of an alternative use for the thing!!

[trinkie]

I have used plastic bins for about ten years and get on really well with them
However, I do find that it's best to reduce the size of most hardish stuff to enable it to break down quicker. Never put big hard dollops in the bin !
I have no grass but use all the garden waste and vegetable peelings.
When I can I put on that blue flower plant - begins with B ?? oh the memory! That helps a lot.
From two bins and a garden without grass we get bags and bags of wonderful compost each year.

Happy gardening.

ps It's Borage !!

[nicnak]

Coming into lidle 7th sept £14.99

[Bill Fernie]

The Highland council will be selling them shortly for £10. Postcards to all Caithness homes shortly on how to get one.

See http://www.caithness.org/community/environment/

If you have large garden you may need two or three or more. Compost is one of the best ways of adding nutrients to the garden for flowers and veg. However the council's main reason is to reduce the amount going to landfill. Vegetable matter whether from the kitchen or the garden cost a lot to transport and the country is also running out of places to dump rubbish.

We keep a smal bin near the sink and put all our vegetable matter into it before taking it to the compost bin. All our grass cuttings and weeds and even the cuttings from the verge outside our house go in. As most of it is made up of water it soon sinks down and you can keep adding to it.

In the long run you can save money on feritlizers and peat or soil conditioners and use your own compost. Saves you money and your own money via the council as the cost of dumping is getting higher all the time.

Grass cuttings are best in layers with other materials in between. Too much grass in one lump tends to take ages to rot down. The bins with a small door at the bottom are the easiest to use but even the ones without one are OK as they are easy to tip up to get the material out from the bottom.

Until rcently we just had large heaps in the garden but they take along time to rot down in our cool Caithness climate. After some years of being left one produced a huge amount of essentially good soil and it has been spread all over the garden this year to good effect.

[badger]

I'm a bit puzzled by all this advertising of council compost bins at £10 because I got one for £5 a while ago, I think just after the new recycling site opened in Wick. Went to the council office, got a voucher and exchanged it at the site for a bin that looks just like the new £10 ones. Maybe that was an extra bargain.

I've used plastic bins for years and have never got any compost out but all the stuff I put in - mixture of kitchen waste, weeds and some grass - just magically disappears. It's brilliant. Nothing to do with my present garden because same thing happened where I lived before. I make sure it's in a sunny spot and it justs melts away - no additives, nothing.