Leave leaves?

[Two_Sheds]

Composting can be as complicated as you make it.

I'm astonished how complicated it can become ... I've always got on OK just chucking everything in a heap and leaving it

[lynda66]

me too 2sheds, but i'm now a convert to wee ..... it makes it all happen so much quicker

[Demeter]

I'm a chuck-it-in-and-it'll-be-fine girl.

No men in our house but my little girl wees in a bucket for me sometimes (at the allotment anyway, she won't do it at home!)... and I get lots of fish wee from the tank too

Maybe I'm going to have to start going in a bucket too? Lynda, without wanting to gross out the boys, I think I need details ?!?
(LOL you can always eleborate in a PM....)

Oh - I have a leaf / compost question too - my bin at home is looking a bit brown and sludgy, I think it needs more "browns" as i suspect I may have overdone the "greens" - if I chuck in a load of autumn leaves will that do the trick? I think they count as "brown"?

[Capsid]

Oh - I have a leaf / compost question too - my bin at home is looking a bit brown and sludgy, I think it needs more "browns" as i suspect I may have overdone the "greens" - if I chuck in a load of autumn leaves will that do the trick? I think they count as "brown"?

Leaves take a long time to rot so you may not be able to use you compost as soon as you wish. You could add some newspaper and mix it in thoroughly to absorb the excess water. But maybe the compost is a lot drier lower down the pile and may not be as bad as you think.

[lynda66]

Maybe I'm going to have to start going in a bucket too? Lynda, without wanting to gross out the boys, I think I need details ?!?
(LOL you can always eleborate in a PM....)

nah boy's won't be grossed out ...... boys will wee anywhere

i have a bucket for my kitchen scraps, tea bags, cardboard, paper, kitchen roll etc ..... when it's nearly full i hover and wee in it a couple of times, wipe with kitchen roll then chuck it on the heap ...... then wash out the bucket and it's ready to use again

[Demeter]

Thank you both.
I may just have to wee in the fish water before I pour it on the heap
(Oh. My. God. I thought gardening was all about pretty and genteel things...)

[lynda66]

i use my fish water on the garden too ...... think they do enough weeing in it lol

[piskieinboots]

I may just have to wee in the fish water before I pour it on the heap
(Oh. My. God. I thought gardening was all about pretty and genteel things...)

be sure to remove the first first

[Two_Sheds]

Wee is a brilliant activator.
And you'll be saving water, by not flushing drinking-quality water down your loo.

[crazy_red]

Cheers everyone!

Got a double whammy from GYO today!

Lots of brilliant advice plus, I was feeling a bit low today - checking up on this thread has really lifted my mood

Made I larf, it did!

I'm not proud, i've been an ardent camper/hiker/outdoors sort forever- and when you gotta go, you gotta go - so peeing in a bucket's not going to be a problem

I have the opposite problem, Demeter, being out-numbered three to one here, I shouldn't have a problem with someone to 'water' my heap really, should I?

Now, if I can just persuade the lads to go up the garden in the cold...

[lynda66]

Now, if I can just persuade the lads to go up the garden in the cold...

tried that with my son ...... he looked at me like i had 2 heads ...... he wouldn't even 'go' in the bucket ........ so why is it when we're out and he needs to go, he will go behind any old tree

[BrideXIII]

dunno, but I keep a handy bucket on the patio, since i was told on here its good to use on my heap,
amazing what you can do when you are a Grape for a few months

[Wren]

After mowing the lawn i left the grass box that catches the grass in a hedge for ten days still full of grass cuttings.. When i came to mow the lawn ten days later i emptied the 10 day old grass cuttings into the compost and the grass cuttings were alive with woodlouse and beetles and already a couple o Worms had found their way in to the grass box. I would recommend this as a method of getting some beneficial insects into your compost bin. They were happy with the new home and extra food, and they soon started to multiply, i were happy an the compost were happy too

Wren

[bobleponge]

To get off the wee subject and back to the original (although I do have a urinal rigged up against my garden shed which goes directly into my compost heap) last year I just chucked all the leaves I had into a raised bed and then put soil and compost on top. When I dug it over at the end of the season I didnt find so much as a trace of leafage.

[BrideXIII]

To get off the wee subject and back to the original (although I do have a urinal rigged up against my garden shed which goes directly into my compost heap) last year I just chucked all the leaves I had into a raised bed and then put soil and compost on top. When I dug it over at the end of the season I didnt find so much as a trace of leafage.

I have a load of leaves in bags at tthe moment, and could do with getting the soil i have salvaged today fed by spring ( its very claggy and needs improving), could i put some leaves on top before i lay the cardboard on for the winter, and then dig over in the spring?