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Being quite keen recyclers in this house, I thought it was about time we started doing something with our green waste and would really appreciate some advice.

I am confused on whether a wormery or a compost bin would be best for us.

We are a family of 4, 2 young children, me and the wife. We only have a tiny front lawn, so grass clippings wouldn't be huge. Mostly will be wanting to compost kitchen waste, garden clippings, shredded bills and paper, egg boxes, etc.

Having only a small courtyard rear garden, space is at a premium. From what I understand it is best to have 2 composters so once one is full you can leave it to 'cook' whilst filling the second. Because of space restrictions, this is putting me off the idea of a compost bin and leaning towards a wormery.

Also it seems the dalek type bins have no bottoms, so moving them when needed may be a bit of a hassle.

The wormery or compost bin will be near our back door, so smell is also a concern as is encouraging rodents or vermin.


Can anyone tell me the benefits/drawbacks of each and what they would recommend for my situation, we really want to do our bit for the environment and save landfill space with the added bonus of some great compost and possibly liquid feed for the plants in the garden.


Also if anyone has any recommendations of makes/models/suppliers etc, I would be very greatful.

Thank you very much in advance for any help or advice you can give me.

Hi Leeder
I think you might find that a wormery wouldn't be enough for your needs.
There's only me but being mostly vegetarian I seem to manage to keep two daleks on the go plus the wormery and the hens!
It might be worth doing a bit of research via google on bins, they don't have to be daleks. A compost tumbler might be better for you - although more expensive. To be completely green you can make them out of discarded pallets too.

Once you get the composting habit you might find you'll fill it up sooner than you think. If you buy veg au naturel ie carrots with their ferns, cabbages with outer leaves, rhubarb with leaves etc etc you'll soon get plenty of fodder for the bin. And don't forget fruit peelings, teabags, coffee grounds, contents of hoover bag, hair, egg shells and so on - and I'm not too proud to ask for other people's leavings if they are going to throw them away. After a recent office lunch do went through the bin extracting all the compostable stuff to bring home with me - it gets addictive!
Good luck with your composting
Sue

Yeah, i think you would definitely fill up a compost quicker than you think. All grass clippings do is over flow our compost. It just means you wont have that. I know there is the volume usually required for a compost, but all it really means is it works slower. It still does the job. My compost by the way was just some boards screwed together on a frame, nothing special.

repeat.............

There is another option: Guinea Pigs. They will do much the same job as worms, but you can cuddle them!
Seriously, they will eat all the peelings, and mow the lawn if you want them to. Their little poos and their bedding can then go in the Dalek (Daleks are cheap, don't take up much room, are neat and tidy)
You can complete the recycling cycle and eat the guinea pigs, but apparently they taste horrible.

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There's only the two of us but we keep a wormery, bokashi bin and twin compost heaps on the go as well as using our council green bin for some stuff. As a family there is no way that you'll manage to put all your waste in the wormery, these are designed for house green waste, whereas the compost heaps take the garden stuff (plus excess household during winter when the worms are less hungry!).

Re the smell, neither should smell so long as they're being managed properly (not a difficult thing).

One question though, why would you want to move a dalek? It's normal to leave compost heaps in situ once they are sited.

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Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Thanks for all the advice, unfortunately the wife wasn't keen on the guinea pig idea, but will definately keep that in mind for when the children are older.

I have decided to follow your advice and will be telephoning the local council tomorrow to see what subsided compost bins they offer.

I was worried about moving a dalek because we have a small garden, things often have to get moved and re-arranged as we buy new plants, grow different veggies, etc. However in hindsight there is an area that doesn't get moved around/re-arranged too often and is nice and sunny and easy to get to from the kitchen, so I will try siting the dalek there.


A few quick questions though, the dalek will have to be placed on concrete (no choice, whole garden is concrete accept for a raised bed), should I add some spent compost from old pots at the bottom of the new bin to encourage the creepy crawlies?

Also I have cut down a large amount of brambles today that were coming over the neighbours wall, the brambles where very thick, but I have cut them all into 6 inch pieces, would it be ok to add these to the compost bin? I don't mind waiting a little longer for compost and thought if would help with air flow having it at the bottom of the bin.

Finally I have read that you shouldn't add the roots from perennial weeds, such as docks/dandelions and nettles. However I have heard soaked nettles are a good activator, is this a case of digging up the nettles, cutting the roots away and disguarding, then soaking the nettle leaves before added to the bin?


Thanks again for all your help and advice!

Hi Leeder
I wouldn't add brambles to the compost no matter how small you chop them. I have two dalek bins from the council, and added brambles a few years back, still trying to get them out of the compost and the garden! The bins just don't get hot enough.
Perennial weeds such as docks and dandelions I would definately not add - again, I'm plagued with them both now! Not sure about nettles, as I don't have those... yet!

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Marion
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Brambles are fine in the compost heap - they don't root themselves from the branches, but you wouldn't want to put the roots on the heap. The main problem with bramble is it's tough and woody so will take ages to rot down (mine have though, in 2 years: I chopped them into about four inch pieces).

The top growth of nettles is perfect on the heap, you don't need to soak it first.
The roots of perennials can be baked in the sun until brown and crispy, and then added to the heap/Dalek.

Dalek can be sited on concrete - try and import some tiger worms from someone else's heap if poss to speed up your decomposition.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

You CANNOT put Grass clippings or leaves into a wormery as it heats up and will kill your worms.

I think a wormery is more for kitchen waste and some old food.

I've had mine a week now.

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Be careful with brambles, the branches do root if they are too long, their natural way of spreading is by layering and forming a new root stock at the point they touch the ground. The branches need to be cut up into very small lengths to make sure they dont take root.

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Hi Leeder
I have just donated my dalek bin to a neighbour as my garden is really too small and I need the space for planting. They are okay, it made lovely compost but it did attract the odd rat or two ! you have to keep an eye out for the little beggars ... My hubbie set a trap in the bin, unfortunately he only caught a mouse ! They are also a bit of a faff on if you decide to move them too (as I did).

Your local council might be the cheapest place to start looking.

Hate to tell you but a wormery produces more greenhouse gas than a compost heap or even landfill molecule to molecule basis.
Worms emit nitrous oxide, 296 times more powerful than C02 per molecule.
research here

http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/annelid...ly/002789.html