Quote:
Originally Posted by Tartannik  Thank you everyone for your replies, so basically, stick it in my compost bin with all my vege trimmings and coffee grinds and tea bags and let it get on with it and use the manure from my ponies that has been sitting for months instead?
Can I put the paper and hay from the hen house in the compost bin too?
One more question, do we have a list anywhere of things to go in compost bins and things not to use????
Nik |
This is not an easy question to answer - as Hedera has noted some "authorities" would have you put next to nothing in your composter - they tend not to be gardeners, ecologists or concerned about the environment! Some people would say put anything and everything in the compost (like me
)
but it's not a simple matter.
There are several aspects that need to be considered:
1 What type of composter do you have - a contained, small unit or a arge heap? If you have a secure bin then you should be able to put
anything in it (rats can't get in!)
but you don't want too much inert matter (cardboard &c) or the bin will fill up too rapidly. If you go in for bins then have several of them ... On the other hand if, like me, you have a large heap (or two) then you have room to put as much in as you like
but avoid masses of any one thing (grass, dung, newspapers - get them layered.
2 Where is your composter? If next to your house in a small garden then perhaps you need to make sure that it is vertebrate-proof: you don't want rodents of whatever species reproducing close to your house. If, on the other hand, it's at the bottomof the garden near open greenery then rats, mice, shrews and whatever will be natural inhabitants which might use your heap from time to time; no problem.
3 What do you want to put on the heap? Some people talk about putting meat, cheese, eggs onto their composter. Such people should consider their buying, cooking and other habits. If you buy meat/fish/dairy foods then eat them! We put a few bits of fish skin/bone into the compost (make sure it's covered to keep off the cats/foxes/whatever!); in the rare event of having 'waste' cheese (like going away for four weeks and finding that the piece of cheddar you left out has now become a mass of blue fungus) then give it to the birds.
So, I'm afraid, you need to make judgements but don't forget that using scraps to feed the birds is a form of recycling! Good luck
Linear Mode
