Filling my daleks without grass clippings

[rary]

I have started adding all my garden waste straight onto the soil, in the past I used most of my grass cuttings as a mulch around my rhubarb or roses as well as in between my onions, though I did add some to the compost occasionally, I shredd any branches, then spread it over the top of my veg beds, along with any grass cuttings and weeds, if there are any dandelions with roots I place them so that the roots can be dried out by the sun, the compost bin is now used for kitchen waste and cardboard

[mrsbusy]

Don't think we will get grass clippings for a long time - everything is parched.
but there seems to be much chat on various forums about grass clippings for mulch and making good compost.
We do get a lot of beech (mainly) leaves and I'm planning to collect alot in the autumn and leave in bags. I got some last autumn and forgot about them and came across the bags recently to my delight as making a new bed - they had composted down enough to use as a mulch. Motivated me to repeat.
I have moved away from cow manure which is what my allotment committee buy in from an organic farmer - it ends up like concrete if it goes on as a mulch. My hens help out abit - they have a bit of bedding which is good for compost but they free range all day so they spread their contributions around!!

[Snoop Puss]

Hello and welcome, Suella.

[Mr Bones]

Charles Dowding of No Dig turns his once. I visted his site this weekend and saw a range of compost containers and great compost making . I'm using pallets and Daleks . Lots of free informationf on his youtube site

Hi Suella and welcome to the forum - from a fellow no-digger and avid compost maker

[suellapostles@gmail.com]

Charles Dowding of No Dig turns his once. I visted his site this weekend and saw a range of compost containers and great compost making . I'm using pallets and Daleks . Lots of free informationf on his youtube site

[Containergardener]

We have one. We shred then add.

[DannyK]

No. Plenty native trees, shrubs, weeds but will not put elder , brambles or nettles in .
Maybe I need to bring clippings from mums garden?

Why not get a shredder. All shrub prunings, including roses, berberis, hawthorn laurel and brambles go through it and I get good results.

Only kitchen waste and shredded paper goes in dalek which is full of worms.

[bikermike]

I have just emptied my dalek (well, dug out the compost). Our mower broke last year, and we we did no mow may (before the mower broke). It' probably only had one or two loads of grass in over the whole year, still had good compost out. And so many worms... So I shouldn't worry about a shortage of grass clippings

[Containergardener]

^^Thanks I will do that

[ameno]

As the one that was full sinks down should I still be topping it up, I have been.

For a while, yes. But then after a couple months you should just leave it to rot down (turning at least once, ideally two or three times), and start another bin in the mean time.

[Plot70]

I went to get some shredded fir from the supply provided and found it to be steaming hot.
The chickens got some of the non steaming stuff from round the edges to scratch in.
I put a barrow load of the steaming stuff in a darlek and chucked a load of freshly pulled weed roots in and topped up with a couple more barrow loads. I am hoping that it will cook the weed roots off.
The acid compost will be useful next year because our soil is high PH.

[Containergardener]

As the one that was full sinks down should I still be topping it up, I have been.

[Snadger]

I just emptied my dalek yesterday so will need to start filling it again. I burn wood only and use the ash on the plot. I burn any wood I can get a hold of, lately my allotment neighbours old fence which I scrounged and had a day chainsawing it up into usable lengths. There are so many nails in it that as well as supplying potassium and altering the ph, the plot is also getting a good dose of iron.
I compost all my kitchen waste plus old cardboard, allotment waste and a few grass cuttings now and again.The weeds are composted in a separate heap.I get a buzz from collecting kitchen waste and taking it to allotment to compost.
The compost I took out of bin yesterday was laid on top of cardboard in a raided bed and covered with shop bought compost ready for planting.

[Containergardener]

You shouldn't add any ash from coal, as it contains toxins from the coal.
I don't know at what percentage coal the toxins would be at negligible enough levels to be considered safe, but I personally wouldn't risk using any load of ash which had any coal ash in it.

On a different note, if you find your heap has too much brown material and rots slowly as a result then try adding urine.
The main purpose of "green" materials is to provide water and nutrients (mainly nitrogen) to help the bacteria to break down the tougher, more carbon-rich materials. Urine is rich in nitrogen, so can help substitute for this.

Thanks ameno. I will use just wood now for use on compost and find my OH a pot to ***s in

[ameno]

You shouldn't add any ash from coal, as it contains toxins from the coal.
I don't know at what percentage coal the toxins would be at negligible enough levels to be considered safe, but I personally wouldn't risk using any load of ash which had any coal ash in it.

On a different note, if you find your heap has too much brown material and rots slowly as a result then try adding urine.
The main purpose of "green" materials is to provide water and nutrients (mainly nitrogen) to help the bacteria to break down the tougher, more carbon-rich materials. Urine is rich in nitrogen, so can help substitute for this.