[diospyros]

What most people forget is to add a spade or two of soil into every layer. Soil contains the bacteria which rot down the plant material.

Proof of the pudding and all that... but I would have thought that the bacteria which are living in the soil are specialising in living in soil, at soil temperatures, not in vegetable waste at compost heap temperatures.  Unless your soil is already very healthy and high in organic matter.  I've always thought you were supposed to not put soil in because it slows the process down!  Certainly the only soil which goes in mine is the fairly minimal stuff attached to weeds, not intentional spadefuls.  What I do have is loads of compost worms.

It's all very fascinating!

[3759allen]

when i first started my daleks they were slow until my dad said that adding a fews spades of soil will help the bacteria get started. dunno weather it was a coincidence but after adding soil it kick started it.

if you have space i would make another heap, or make your current one bigger then divide into 3 or 4 small heaps (hope this makes sense). this way you have more control of removing and using the more decomposed material first, rather than waiting for a whole large bin to compose fully before use.

to turn it i find it easier to move the material from one to the other (i find if you try and turn daleks in situ they crack the top of the bin). this will bury the top un rotted items and give air to the decomposing material.

if the polycarbonate isn't black it might be worth covering the sheets in black sheeting so it absorbs the heat more.

[fatcat1955]

Keep the rain out and put your urine in.

[allotmentann]

The other things to remember are that you need a roughly fifty fifty mix of green to brown for the best speed in rotting down, so half grass clippings, veg waste etc, to cardboard, twiggier stuff. The more often you mix and the smaller you can shred the contents before adding them, the faster it will rot. 

[Jackypam]

Have just started emptying the oldest ( year old heap) with trepidation. The top was a horrible hard crust of grass cutting after the wet winter, but the insides, especially the middle bits are fine. There are a few bits that are still not done ,but I just sort through the barrows and chuck any dodgy bits back onto the new heap.  If I was striving for perfection I'd be disappointed, but it is. Surprisingly serviceable!
 

[JayG]

Keep the rain out and put your urine in.

....rain out, pee in, shake it all about.           


(Sorry, it just triggered long-forgotten memories of doing the Hokey Cokey at church socials!  ) 

+++++++

Even the 'correct' mixture of compost ingredients is likely to become a slimy mess if over-compacted and too wet - hard to control the moisture levels in an uncovered heap (too dry isn't helpful either) so I would always recommend some sort of cover to keep the rain off - you can always water it manually if necessary, preferably combined with a good 'shake about' too. 

[Headgardener22]

I've got three heaps (each about 5ft square and 4ft deep), one to fill, one to empty and one to rot. When the empty ones emptied, turn the rotted one into the empty bay and the filled one into the rotting bay. I find that gives about 2 years from first starting to fill to starting to empty and it seems to work.

[mimilovell]

sorry to bother you all. Im a complete newbie and Ive just got a allotment. The soil in there I think wuld be good because of the previous person has been gardening here and because of other people nearly by who has plants. But I was wondering if I wanted to put a few pots in my small garden with easy to grow fuits and veg, what can I plant in pots. The sun is facing at the front of the house, so the garden is in the shade. What can I plant here? And also can I just go to supermarket and buy and use the general compost. Or do I need to do add soemthing to the compost for a better yeild? Thanks

[azubah]

Hi Mimi
I bought some compost from Asda last week and found it reasonable. You could try quite a few things in pots. What do you like to eat?

[Eightball]

How much sun does your back garden get? Most veg like a decent amount of sun. Yup I got Asda compost last year and it worked fine. If the veg is going to be in the pot its whole life though it will need some added fertiliser as most compost only have a couple of months worth of food. I would add in some slow release fertiliser like Fish blood and bone.

[diospyros]

Mimi - I would recommend a pot of mint.  It doesn't mind a bit of shade, it is better off confined anyway because it ramps around, and it will be handy for picking a sprig for potatoes.