[tecla]

I hope this is the right forum site to write this message.
I have finally got a compost bin for my allotment and have started putting kitchen peelings into a special compost container in my kitchen. I live in a first floor flat and my allotment is half a mile down the road, so I am not able to get there every day. I was just wondering if there are certain peelings that should not go into the compost, like citrus fruit peelings, oranges or pinapples etc. Should it be only vegs?

[HilaryG]

I put all raw fruit and veg stuff in my scraps box. Also tea leaves, coffee grounds, hoover contents, the newspaper that lines the box, and the odd bit of brown cardboard or egg box. At the moment this gets put straight into next year's onion trenches, a new experiment for me.

[compostqueen]

I compost all my kitchen scraps but not bread, just the peelings and uncooked stuff, tea bags, coffee grounds and loo roll middles.  It makes very good compost indeed and it has the bonus of being weed free.

If your plot is a little ways away you can freeze your kitchen compostibles to prevent them from ponging your kitchen out, and take it to the plot when it suits you

[viettaclark]

Have you got a balcony or somewhere outside to put the little bin in the Summer?
I only ask because I have a terrible problem with fruit flies in my work-top bins in the Summer . I try to empty them regularly into a flip-top outside the back door and when that's full I take it down to the compost bins.

[arugula]

Hi Tecla,

Agree with all said so far, but you asked about citrus too and it hasn't been mentioned. I don't put citrus in the compost, but I understand this is somewhat a matter of preference. 

[Clover]

Extract of orange in it's concentrated form is actually used as a preservative in skin care products because it's anti-fungal and anti-bacterial so best not to use it in any quantity as those are what break down your compost.

[lucywil]

i do put citrus in mine and i have never had a problem, in fact i have had some fantastic compost, so like they said it is a personal preference. i dont put the potato peelings in though and i know some people do.

[Clover]

i do put citrus in mine and i have never had a problem, in fact i have had some fantastic compost.

Same here!  I think the quantity is key - it's unlikely you'd have enough from a garden or household in the UK to be detrimental.  I was only intending to explain why people say don't use it.  There is a reason behind it.

[Sue33]

don't forget to add the fluff from the tumble dryer  I tear up cereal boxes, pretty much anything cardboardy - I don't put potato peelings in though, just through personal experience 

[arugula]

....I think the quantity is key....

That's it in a nutshell. Not too much of any one thing, just try and balance it out. 

[strangerachael]

I have a bokashi system which means I can put all sorts of things into it including scraps of fish and meat, cooked food, plate scrapings etc.
You can put eggshells in but they always take ages to rot down so I usually rinse them, put them in the oven (usually just after I've used it) to dry out and become brittle and crush them up small, otherwise they never seem to compost down.

[arugula]

I have a bokashi system ....

That sounds interesting Rachael  . Is it expensive to set up and then keep buying the bran?

[mumofstig]

I put all the rubbish mail in my tub, just roughly torn, saves having to shred it   Also any kitchen roll goes in my tub rather than the dustbin.

If the bin at the plot looks a bit wet i add my torn up newspapers as well, so keep a few on standby indoors by the side of the tub:)

[madcat]

Everything veggie, fruit, crushed eggshells, lawn cuttings, paper or cardboard goes in mine.  Plus soft weeds and spent plants...  There is a good mix, a little compost accelerator if there is a lot of new stuff at once, and it rots down great.  You can see the heat coming off it in the summer.

The only thing I don't include is blighted tops of tomatoes or potatoes - they go on the bonfire promptly.

Fruitflies are a problem in the kitchen and with the outside bin, which does encourage me to remember to empty as often as poss.    Also I get leopard slugs living in the swingtop outside the back door - I know they are goodies but   :blink:

[Sweet Pea 2]

why would you not put potato peeling in it?  Just wondering I probably have a high proportion of these in mine.