Can I get my compost bin back on track?

nattyguest

Hi guys,

I have a compost bin which I used for grass and vegetable waste over the summer, as well as paper, etc. Unfortunately I put newspaper in there which I subsequently learned should not have been done - I am a newcomer to gardening and still learning the ropes.

Having not been near the bin over the winter I went today to find a pile as hard as concrete. I dropped a bit of water in there and mixed it up before adding some compost activator. All before thinking of asking for help.

So here I am asking for advice and help - can I recover what's in the pile and get it turned into some decent compost over the next few months, or do I need to get a skip and shovel this out?

Here is a picture of how it looks at the moment:



The bin is not in the sunlight (like it would matter in Ireland). I am hoping that I can keep airing it every few days, along with a few more brown items (cardboard) and it will speed up the decomposition process?

Thanks in advance,

planetX

yuck - too much grass. Shredded newspaper is fine in a compost bin, but everything in moderation. It looks too wet as well. Dig in some soil, and mix it all up. Go easy on the veg and no more grass. A bit of paper is ok but you want much more plant material going in.

Ophiopogon

Yeah defo too much grass.

Rule of thumb is 2 parts brown to 1 part green. Brown being twigs, cardboard(I throw in toilet rolls and egg cartons, shredded and moistened) etc. Green being leaves, flowers, weeds, grass(only in very thin layers) etc.

Compost needs air and moisture as well so needs a good turning.

You'd want to mix in a fair bit of dried as a mix as wet as that could turn anaerobic and produce methane.

redser7

Did you dig down? Is it like that all the way? As above, add more browns. Shredded newspaper would soak alot of the wetness out and add brown to the mix, so get ripping, lots! But don't throw it out. Even this mess if kept dry will eventually compost. While you are sorting this lot out, start another pile with your current scraps. Layering is the key, green, brown, green, brown and turn it to introduce air every so often. I made some awful stuff when I started but now make half decent stuff.

nattyguest

Great thanks guys. Cardboard is something I always have a lot of so no bother there. Would I be as well buying in some bark or something from Woodies to help add to the brown mix, as, except cardboard, I wouldn't come across a lot of browns.

Redser, it wasn't like this all the way down, it was all over the place. Some of it was awful soft and others awful hard - guess I hadn't layered it right. I most certainly didn't go to the rule of thumb Ophiopogon mentioned but i'll be sticking to that now.

Advice on the bark, etc would be most appreciated. Thanks a lot guys!:D

redser7

Hi - on the bark, you have to think about why you are making your own compost. The main reasons would be that it is free and it recycles waste into a useful garden product. So it doesn't make sense to pay money for bark when you could just buy a bag of ready made compost instead :-) Some people make useful compost from shredded newspaper and cardboard and grass clippings alone. If not high in nutrients it is a very good soil conditioner. Just go with your scraps, grass and cardboard/newspaper. A good source of paper is those free papers. Look out behind supermarket checkouts, I always grab a few - they are never all taken and just get pulped anyway. And don't be afraid to ask around and get people to save their newspapers for you. And grass clipping from neighbours. I stock pile leaves in the autumn, making leaf mould but also keep some as a source of browns for the following year.
You could lift the composter off the heap and rake the contents out and mix it up. If you have some space in the garden, make it into a little heap and cover with plastic to dry it out and start afresh with new material in the compost bin. Chuck the old stuff in a bit at a time. And add your own wee, it really speeds the process up.

planetX

no sense at all buying bark. If you could get your hands on some straw that would really help. As much brown as possible, don't overdo the cardboard - it will take a long time to rot down. Add things like old compost from pots (provided it's not diseased), dead houseplants, carrot tops, leaves.

Ophiopogon

Yeah I would agree to go easy on the cardboard and really thick cardboard like used in cardboard boxes is not really suitable for small composters, try sticking to toilet rolls and egg cartons, cearal boxes and just make sure to shread and moistion.

Just want to quailfy what Redser said re the adding of leaves...for a small compostor this means only a very thin layer as he said they can help to bulk up brown waste but don't get into the habit of putting them in all the time...use a sperate pile for them.

Also as Redser said pee is great, it adds nitorgen and moisture to your compost. I don't do it myself as it's a bit awkward

nattyguest

Thanks very much for all the help and advice guys! Hopefully I can have my heap back in order in the next couple of months

dfbemt

I would agree fully with all the advice so far and would add the following

- the hotter your pile can get the better. If you can put it in the sun do it. Mine sits against an east facing fence. Gets the morning, midday and a good bit of afternoon sun and gets very hot (steaming) in the middle

- empty out all that you have so far, mix it with browns and place back in.

- even with a lid on the bin try and get an old piece of carpet to place on top of your pile.

- I chop everything down that I put in - veg peel, fruit, small twigs, loo roll holders, egg boxes, brown cardboard, etc. I only add shredded newspaper, not whole sheets

- get your loo roll holders from work, friends, family. Don't add glossy cardboard

- when out in the garden keep a bottle in the shed for your pee. Can be stored in shed without annoying wife and poured on when required

Best advice of all, keep at it. Don't spend money on it as this defeats the purpose. Try with different amounts of browns and greens but give it time.