compost advice please

[vicki]

just got our new compost bin from the council yesterday. can anyone advise what weeds we SHOULDN'T put in? I understand some are ok but some more vicious ones should be kept out? Hubby has chucked in some dandelions and I wasn't sure if they'd be ok?
3 year old loves the 'magic robot' which turns his fruit peelings into dirt!!! (not as quickly as he hopes though!!!)

[Alice]

Welcome Vicki, You're son has it right. It all depends on how you want to do your conpost. No expert here but basically there are two methods.

You can "garden" the heap, and no doubt the experts will tell you how to do it so that you can get beautiful compost in three months or six months or whatever and what you shouldn't put in so that you won't get seeds you don't want germinating.

The other method is leave it to itself and chuck everything on, which is the method I use. However this depends on having the space for about 3 heaps and waiting about 2 years for good compost.

To use the council bin method I think you would need about 3 bins. Our Council (West Dumbarton) will supply 3 bins, but do you have the space for them.

At the end of the day keep going, even if only with the kitchen peelings. All good stuff. Take heart. Plenty of experts on this site. Sure you'll get some real good expert advice.

[eskymo]

make sure that each time you put food waste from your kitchen [vegetable peel, coffee, teabags, veg etc] that you cover it with a thin layer of soil as this really helps to stop it getting infested with fruit fly. My bin has always been plagued with flies anf bugs and they used to fly out every time I took the lid off. This year I've been layering with soil and it seems to be working so far.

I used to turn the contents of my bin, but decided just to leave it to it's own devices this year. Every time I open it to add more stuff the height of the content has shrunk, so something must going on in there. I occassionally add a pwder that i got from B&Q years ago called something like 'compost maker' it's organic and helps to break down the stuff in the bin.

Another good thing for that is seaweed though, so if you have access to a beach, collect some and bung that in as well as it's great for speeding up the composting process.

I feel i've been muttering away for ages - hope some of that makes sense.

[vicki]

Thats great guys! We have plenty of kitchen waste, grass cuttings, guinea pig waste etc so should be ok. Thanks for the tip about covering the fruit/veg- will remember that!
I have two bins so will have to wrk with that for the moment!

[Sunbeam]

Can I compost moss?? Half of our garden is left to grow wild - and the ground is covered with moss which our chickens have thoughtfully stratched up for us (imagine moss mound 2ft high)... I have raked it all up, but wondered whether or not I can compost it - it is currently sitting in a pile by the bonfire & being spread about again my happy-scratchin' chickens!