Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!
I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.
We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.
To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!
Sunday 18 May 2008
New compost bins!!
...so I can add a few more bins to the line already in the garden.
So, we spent a bit of time today adding 2 more bins on the end of the line, having first cleared the weeds and grass away...
Compostman is currently cutting down all the finished daffodils in the garden and pulling up nettles so I had LOADS of material waiting to be composted!! I also had a collection of old cardboard waiting to be mixed in with the greenstuff....It really helps to build up a collection of "green" stuff and "brown" stuff when filling your bins, as a full bin works more efficiently and composts quicker and hotter.
I started off with a layer of well composted bark shreddings from one of the storage bins then added a mix of paper bits and grass clippings.
I then added a layer of grass clippings and a layer of very damp cardboard bits on the top.
Then a layer of nettles ( without the roots- they go in a "weedy " bin to make compost which is only used in the bottom of holes...)and another layer of card on the top....
I repeated the layers of green stuff ( nettles/comfrey/grass) and brown stuff ( card/paper) until the bins were full to the brim.
They will heat up FAST over the next few days and then the level will drop...and I can top them up again with alternating levels of green/brown stuff....
making compost is really easy...especially if you can get a good pile of stuff together first!
I love your compost bins, my Dalek is heaving at the sides so I'm very jealous of all the space you have.
ReplyDeleteI just love reading your blog, Its the only one I make a point of reading regularly.
Thanks. Sarah.x
Ahh thank you Mumma Troll!!
ReplyDeleteI like your blog, also!
and I hope you don't feel TOO envious...I have a lot of garden so I need to make a lot of compost....I find the size of garden generates the amount of compost needed for that size of garden....so you will make what YOUR garden needs from your garden waste...IYKWIM.....