My new compost bin

We had the same offer last year Linda and I got this one too. I had to give it away as it was far too large and I had nowhere to put it!! I bought a (much pricier) wormery instead which seems to be working well and gives me lovely liquid fertilizer. My friends will make good use of the bin though :)) You are looking great in the photo!!

It was such a good buy Karen and just what I was looking for. We really need two bins for our garden. Perhaps next year it will be a wormery!! I like the idea of the liquid fertilizer.

I have debated about ordering the smaller compost bin (our council is doing the same). At the moment we recycle as much waste as possible but it is all collected by the council on a fortnightly basis. They then turn the waste into compost.

Like you, Karen....it's all about space. Where to put it? and I also want to put a water butt into the garden...I reckon that will take priority for now (metered water here for a start)...I've read on GOY that many gardeners prefer rainwater to tap water for plants as well.

Linda, a wormery to supply you with liquid fertilizer sounds good. Good luck with your new addition :)

I use the council brown bins for the wooded cuttings and grass cuttings if I have too much. My husband thinks waste from our garden has to sit a fitness test to get into my compost bin.

My council are doing an offer £14 for a small one £17 for the large, buy 1 get second half price on both. £4 delivery. Might have a chat with a neighbour.

Our council takes the garden waste, but latterly not the kitchen veg. waste...that's why I needed the wormery.

We got ours from the council too ... years ago ... good to see they're still offering them. Do they do water butts too?

I bought the same style of bin off our council.
Wondering if I bought the best one, as I can tell it's going to me a nightmare to mix up and then get the conpost out of it. I wish I'd bought the style where the whole front comes away ... a bit like the one behind you Linda.

The one behind me is the first one we bought from the council. It has been good but that type is no longer on offer Donna.
We did not pay for delivery and it was pretty quick too. £4.00 is a lot to pay Littlelegs. I haven't seen water butts Fluff, but it would be a good idea in areas that suffer from drought.

I have 2 x 100 litre water butts and they are really handy to have in an area where you have lots of pots. Trouble is they rely on rain to fill them up!! Still, better than nothing at all. I dread the day they put me on a water meter!!

I have 2 bins, the resulting compost is good stuff and saves an awful lot of money the only thing is I get lots of strange things growing in my pots and veggie patch. I thought the heat of the composting process killed off the seeds. Knowsley council also have an excellent recycle scheme whereby you can have a waste food(cooked) bin which they collect every week.

Hi Daisy
What do they use the cooked food waste for? Is it animal feed? You shouldn't put weeds like couch grass, bindweed or creeping buttercup in your compost as sometimes the heat isn't enough to kill the seeds. Also leaves from trees have lignin in them which decompose slowly like trees. You are meant to treat them separately. I put them in black bin bags with a few wholes in the bottom. That works really well.
I was thinking Karen, most people in drought areas on this site will have water butts, but it would be an idea to encourage others to do the same by selling cheap water butts.

Well done. I don't know if our council does that, but I have my own bins anyway. I hope you make lots of sweet compost :o)

Thanks Hywel. I have filled my new compost bin to the top with compost from the large bin. It is nearly perfect. Will be great by the spring. Meantime I have the big one to put all the garden waste that will soon appear after the first frost. I think that will be pretty soon. Your kiln will keep you warm when you do that firing.

I did the test firing yesterday. It went up to 1000 C lol. The shed was like toast ! It will be nice in the winter :o)

Linda...I live in the same local authority as Daisyco and this I have copied from the authority website, in answer to your question...

"Two children recycling

The Council now provides households a new food waste collection service.

The service is provided on a voluntary opt-in basis with residents asked to sign up for separate food waste collections. Collecting food waste in this way will prevent it going straight to landfill, avoid financial penalties of up to £150 per tonne, to minimise the impact of waste disposal on climate change.

Residents who opt in to the service will be provided with a small caddy for storing food waste outside. They will also receive a mini caddy and a supply of compostable liners which can be used to securely store food waste in the kitchen before transferring it to the external kerbside caddy.

The food waste is collected by the Council on a weekly basis and taken for composting into a soil improving fertiliser".

The system works really well as we don't have room for a compost bin and it is collected fortnightly.

This is very interesting Whistonlass, it is surprising how far each council is willing to go. We were given a mini caddy with our new compost bin, but I use it chiefly for tea leaves and vegetable cuttings.
Now we know where to find you on cold days Hywel. Could be expensive tho'.

I've just noticed the Council blurb says it's collected weekly and we've only had it collected fortnightly....so I'm off to ask them why! I didn't catch that discrepancy when I put up my comment earlier.

That's OK if you only fill enough for every two weeks Whistonlass.

Yes, you're right Linda....only the odd week have we overflowed our curbside collection box....and now hubby tells me he's started to put it out every week if it's too full! So...I have to eat my words now! lol At least I found all this out BEFORE I contacted the Council to complain about not getting a weekly collection. Senior moments are toppling into one another today! lol

Tell me about it!!! Nothing worse than complaining when you are in the wrong Whistonlass.