Grow Your Own Magazine

I have one of those plastic compost bins and regularly put veg peelings in what if anything else do i need to put in ? I have added some leaves but nothing else.

Hi Jackie

You need a mixture of greens, ie grass cuttings, soft green prunings, veg peelings and browns, ie newspaper, cardboard. Brown leaves will slow the composting process so you need to save these separately for around 2 years to make leaf mold.

Also, if you can add some chicken poo or some of the previous years compost, this will activate the process quicker.

Tracey

Thanks will have to get hubby to cut the grass more often !!!

All uncooked kitchen waste, garden clearing stuff - but not pernicious weeds - some newspaper (wrapped around peelings for example) same with kitchen roll, the contents of my Dyson bag - you need something to soak up the wetness of your kitchen peelings and grass cuttings - something to bulk it out so you don't end up with slime. That's where shredded garden prunings and paper/cardboard come in.

__________________
Each day is a gift. That's why it's called The Present.

vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated Aug 20th 2008

definitely the (contents of the) hoover bag, and I put some shredded paper mixed with the grass cuttings to break up the large amount of 'green' waste.

shredded mail, ripped up cardboard, for example cereal boxes and most cardboard food wrappers or card, anything else that will compost except cooked food (veg go in), litter trays and nasty weeds.

__________________
Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated at last - Saturday 9th at 2040hrs

With the hoover bag contents, doesn't the hair take an age to rot down? Not heard of thei before gut have wife and daughter with long hair that they brush all over the house so always lots of hair in the hoover.

__________________
si'sraisedbed

We have two daleks on the go and here's what we put in:
Banana skins.
All veg peelings
teabags
Dyson contents (yes long haired wife and daughter too)
fruit cores
onion peelings
grapefruit skins
lemon skins
shredded paper.
Newspaper used to line kitchen waste bin
occasional turkey crap
a few leaves
crab apples
occasional grass
shredded branches
vegetable growth from garden.

But we have 3 open compost heaps as well :-)

I put mine in - long with grey bits!

__________________
Each day is a gift. That's why it's called The Present.

vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated Aug 20th 2008

The contents of my hoover bag are 90% dog hair, and it rots down as well as anything.

And coffee grounds crushed egg shells and pee, of course.
Sue