COMPOST HEAP ADVICE

Well, I don't know about all this Green and Brown stuff, but I'll tell you what goes into mine:

Kitchen waste - eg potato peelings, apple cores, leaves, egg shells, paper kitchen towells, tea bags (BUT NOT anything that has been cooked or processed or meat)
Garden waste - Weeds, clippings, dead flower heads, grass clippings (just a few handfalls of grass at a time ie not too much)

And every now and then a good shovell full of earth containing worms and other life that help to break it all down.

Stir it all up a bit once in a while to keep it fluffed up and well mixed. And that's what works for me!

Follow Sids advice and you wont go far wrong. I tear up toilet rolls and the odd cardboard box. Grass is fine as long as it isnt in a big glut. Browns are youre tree prunings chopped up along with cardboard scrunched up paper etc. Greens are veggie peelings, clippings, trimings etc.

Some people soak all there weeds to rot down first and after a few weeks then add to the compost heap. The water can go on youre plants.

Compost heaps need to get really warm/hot to decompose some weeds otherwise they will grow back from seed.

I often find tomateos growing where ever I have used my own compost as the seeds of these are just the same.

Oh dont add animal waste. You can add male urine every now and then.

Snip your seaweed. Anything that is small will break down easier and quicker. making youre compost work quicker.

You can add female urine too... just pee in a bucket and tip over the compost.
Seaweed can also be used as a mulch on veggies.
In theory you can also put small amounts of cotton and wool (not synthetics) in your compost but it has to work for a good while to break them down.
Don't do as a friend did and put her babies nappy liners in... bonded paper does not rot down!

Hello there
I love compost heaps/bins, it is so fascinating that you put in a load of rubbish and get beautiful rich compost. Animals manure is a great accelerator, I use chicken dung because I keep them. Also horse or farmyard manure to get started, nettles particularly when they are young in spring are good, seaweed is great. I would be very careful about the cardboard/paper percentage that is being put in. I believe that this can alter the nitrogen levels, would have to look up to see the correct ratio. Wee wee is of course a great addition to the heap, but it depends how you feel about this. My heap is in a very private corner so I am ok, also my granddaughter lives with me so her potty is always emptied there, though again it has to be in moderation. I think that is the secret, a complete mix without too much of anything. I know lawn mowings heat very quickly and are not good in great quantities. There are heaps of books in the library and on the internet. I have tried the commercial additives to get it going, but I am completely organic and on a budget, so why not let Mother Nature do it for you. Good luck and happy composting

All of the advice above is great, but I would just add that shredded paper is fine and would be considered a "brown" item. Just be careful about colored inks and glossy or treated papers, as these can contain harmful chemicals.
Coffee grounds and tea leaves are great and as Sid says a spadeful of garden soil will help to more things along!

Thanks for all the good advice

happy gardening to you all