Hi Graeme
Can you tell us a little bit more about your thinking, especially what you mean by "a compost crock which can be planted straight into"? I am not at all cerain that I know what you mean.

hey, I was thinking an alternate take on current compost crocks available at the moment, where people will collect kitchen scraps to help with their compost for their garden/ allotment. I would like to design a crock which wasted kitchen scraps will be deposited into and then when it is ready to do so, plant the seed into the crock. Any help or knowledge you could give would be great

Maybe a raised vegetable/flower bed?.

harker, I think you've not grasped the difference between composts - home made compost from scraps and garden waste isn't potting compost - it's suitable for adding to the soil to enrich it, but isn't suitable for growing plants unless its been hot composted, and it won't have been in a crock. Potting compost isn't the same thing.

hi Bamboo, I should of mentioned I didn't mean to plant solely into kitchen scraps but to add to it with soil by maybe some kind of compartment (the actual designs will happen later)

None the less, the home compost element will still not be sterile, so not suitable for adding to potting compost either. This doesn't matter on the soil, but it may very well matter a lot in a container...

Graeme, I approach a new idea by looking for the difficulties and then resolving them; so I am not being deliberately negative in my response.
Firstly, kitchen/garden waste breaks down most easily when it is composted in bulk - something like a meter cube is ideal rather than a small pot.
Secondly, the gardener has no means of telling how strong the resultant compost is and this is very important when growing small plants. One thing that the gardener will know is that the compost is much too strong to use in its raw state and will need to be mixed with a lot of soil.
Then, it is almost impossible for the home composter to make weed-free compost. There will be a lot of weed seeds in the compost and these will compete with any seeds that the gardener chooses to sow in it.
Many years ago I experimented with using garden compost as part of a potting mix for my alpine plants but soon gave up because of the above issues.
Graeme, "your task, should you choose to accept it, is to resolve the above challenges". Good luck to you and please let us know how you get on.
("..." quote from a TV series long before your time!)

Pick another project Graeme. This one's not a runner I'm afraid. Sorry :-(

Ditto from me I'm afraid Graeme. My vocation is scientific and Bulbaholic and Beattie are dead to rights. You need the bulk of a large container or heap plus the ability to aereate the rotting matter to produce proper compost. And even then you can't just use it to just grow things into. Home made compost is far too rich for potting.

Just think though, fellow GoYers, of all the brochours stuffed into gardening magazines including the RHS mag. that sell interesting looking, colourfull and very overpriced items that look as if they just might be useful. If Graeme can develop this he could be a very rich young man.

Hello Harker your idea is ringing bells for me, something along the lines you are thinking was done in the 1970/80's It was called something like living pots or perhaps containers? I think the growing medium may have been moss or old inside out turf? As the seed/plants grew the roots knitted together and made a strong container for the whole summer. I cannot remember much more about it, may well have been on the old Gardeners world programme it was probably from an exhibition at Chelsea? If you do some research you might strike lucky good luck

Going off at a tangent the number of overpriced kitchen waste containers to cart your waste to the compost bin fascinates me. We had an extremely cheap flip top gallon bin outside the back door for years. The top eventually gave up the ghost a few months back and we replaced with a slightly larger model from Lidl for a few quid. The 'fancy' models cost several times the price. I would also never consider having a container inside the house to hold the veggie waste going to the compost, it would need removing to the bin every day whilst, outdoors, our can sit for a week, and does in the winter time.

I so agree MG I have seen some very overpriced ones. I just stick mine in an old plastic bin by the back door till I go down the garden.

I have a plastic peely bin that came with the composter. It lives on the windowsill by the sink in the kitchen - really handy as I'm a lazy slob. Doesn't usually get too (fruit) fly blown as the lid locks down.

But the smell Beattie? Or are you so good you take the bin to the compost every day...In the depths of winter it can be a week between us dumping stuff in the wee bin by the back door and dumping it in the compost - pong would be major!

It only pongs when you open the lid, otherwise nothing. I empty it twice a week as we have a Green Joanna that takes food remains as well - crusts, chicken carcasses, stuff you're not normally supposed to compost, so perhaps it fills quicker. And fish skins make me empty it pretty soon....

Woah, lots of replies. Thank you I really appreciate it.
It seems the brief of my project as of now wont work so I will be looking into changing it slightly, I would still like to stick with this area. Apart from the problems mentioned (smells, where to keep the scraps and such) are there any other problems anyone has in this area? Do any of you own allotments away from your homes and have to travel with your kitchen scraps? its just a thought but what about a transportation product which will possibly turn the compost while traveling. If you do have to travel with compost, what are your methods now, and what kind of weight/amount do you take each time?
Thank you all for the replies :D

Hi Harker - so pleased we haven't put you off entirely. It's much better to have a rethink before putting in a whole lot of effort on a project with basic flaws. Let's hope that as a group we can help you find a "runner".

I'm a lazy so-and-so and won't carry kitchen scraps further than I have to, (is everyone the same?) so the composter that takes food remains has to be as close to the house as reasonably practical. I don't have an allotment so carrying smelly bins in the car is not something I'd contemplate.

I wouldn't want a composter in the car (is that what you mean when you talk about a transportation product that would turn the compost while travelling?). When the kitchen scraps or garden waste have been in the composter for a week or two the level goes down - what was full up becomes half full, for instance. Leaves wilt and sink and liquid comes out of the bottom of the composter (it's called leachate). And I wouldn't want it swilling round in my car, thanks.

I get the impression you're confused between "compost", which is what you end up with after months of the rotting process, and the waste - whether from kitchen, garden or allotment. That is not compost - it's much bulkier and is "refuse of vegetable origin".

I think there may be a possibility in designing a good mixer to mix the garden waste to speed up the composting process. The Green Joanna I have came with a jolly good device to help mix. It's a broom handle with a metal fitting on the end. The metal fitting has a couple of hinged blades on it that fold in to the broom handle when you thrust it into the composter, and flip out like wings when you pull it up so that they bring up the partly rotted leaves, sticks etc. It works really well at mixing and aerating the composter contents. If / when it wears out I would be looking for a replacement. Perhaps one with bigger wings or more of them?

Your new idea, Graeme, gives me a nice picture of a gardener leaving home on his bike to go to the allotment. On the back of the bike is the composter and it is connected to the rear wheel by a chain drive mechanism. As he moves forward the drive mechanism turns a paddle in the composter so helping the composting process. :-)

Not put off quite yet Beattie lol
I think there is some confusion on my part when I say compost / waste / scraps, but I know what I mean, hopefully you can follow me lol
The idea of turning the composter while traveling came about when thinking about my girlfriends dad, I have been with him to his allotment before and his is within walking distance. That made me think about some kind of trolley or wheel barrow that you pulled along while walking and the wheel turning on the ground caused the composter to turn a paddle inside, alot like Bulbaholics Idea for the bike. I hadn't actually thought about cars or other forms of transportation. Is this leachate good to keep in the composter or is that not needed? (so from my point of view, would there need to be drainage on the product)
Thanks

The leachate has to drain out of the bottom of the container or else air can't get in. The stuff that's decomposing needs to be moist, but not wet, and to have the right combination of harder carbon containing stuff and softer, wetter nitrogen containing stuff. And air needs to get at it all as well.

Why not have a REALLY GOOD look at this website -

http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/making_compost/step_by_step.html

and learn all about the process before you try to design something to do it in? You need to have the basics before you can see what bells and whistles might be useful.
Make sure you read all the FAQ's, then I think you'll be better able to address this project.

ok thanks for the link, I will do