How to use The Compost Bin.

Welcome to The Compost Bin, which contains my musings on my life and things which interest me.

I live in Herefordshire with my husband and daughter; we have 4 acres of land which contains a woodland, polytunnel, small orchard, garden and veg plot. We grow our own organic produce and make lots of cider, wine, jam and chutney. We also make a lot of compost. We share our lives with 12 Chickens, 3 Cats, 3 Guinea Pigs and assorted wildlife. We try our best to live a more self reliant lifestyle, growing and making and fixing and mending and re-using and re-cycling stuff, if we can.

I now work as a freelance environmental educator/forest school leader and community artist; I also spend a lot of time volunteering as a Master Composter and Master Gardener, helping people make compost and grow veg at home or at school. I used to be a Research Scientist, but that was many years ago.

I started blogging because I love to write about the things which interest me. Whether it's something I have done in the garden, an article for a magazine, a review of websites or equipment I use, a training course I have attended or "just" my daily routine - I love to write.

I hope you find something to interest you in The Compost Bin - remember to click on the photos to make them full size!

Thursday, 12 July 2012

HotBin Trial Day 5 and 6 - with added Dalek!

Day 5, Tues 10th July 2012

12 pm
Ambient Temp 22 C



Hotbin had to be refilled to the brim as it had slumped to less than a quarter full and the internal temp has begun to drop rapidly to  less than 40 C - so I filled it up to the top with a mixture of weeds, grass and card, with a few handfuls of wood chips as bulking agent.


Found a slight issue when I tried to close the lid - if any debris gets on the flat surface...


The lid wont shut!



Easily fixed, though - just clear the debris away :-)




Dalek has slumped by 45 cm from the initial max fill level.




Internal temp in middle of surface layer 56 C - still working on initial charge of material.

Lots of steam.


Day 6
Wed 11 July 2012


Ambient Temp 18 C

Hotbin  has begun to warm up already. Level has significantly decreased since the refill yesterday/

 


 

Internal temp using probe, as before, in middle of surface - 46 C
Lid Temp 35 C


Dalek

Internal Temp in middle of surface layer 60 C
Internal temp at edge of surface layer 50 C

 Material slumped down by 50 cm from initial fill level.
Steaming and bin feels warm to touch from outside


 


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Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I have had lots of problems with spammers so I am sorry that I can no longer accept Anonymous comments.

I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compostbin.

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