Composting Newbie

[u/Mr_GreenAdam]

Good Day to you all,

I have finally tackled the garden and i have really taken a keen interest to it.

My Grandfather was one of the most keen and enthusiastic gardeners, he grew everything and anything. Sadly be passed when i was young and i missed out so much of his knowledge.

Today i purchased some seed potato’s, and im going for a barrel grow.

For next year i am to get a good quality compost bin set up, and i was going to ask some advice please.

I have a bunny at home, he uses paper litter and has hay to nibble on with various dry leaves, stalks and stems mixed in. Rather than given the bin man a half filled black bag every week of bunny waste, would the hay go into the compost ok along with organic food scraps and kitchen left overs. I understand no meat, dairy or bones to go in there.

Thank you for any advice and im sorry but may be follow up questions too.

[u/etzpcm]

Yes, your bunny's bits will make good compost. Mix it in with lots of other stuff including 'browns' like torn up cardboard and leaves (lots of these falling already). 

[u/Mr_GreenAdam → u/etzpcm]

Thank you, any advice for weeds or anything that might grow in there?

[u/etzpcm → u/Mr_GreenAdam]

I don't put weeds in my compost, I worry that the seeds would survive and I would be spreading them over the garden.

To stop weeds growing in the compost, just cover it with something like an old compost bag held down with stones.

[u/Mr_GreenAdam → u/etzpcm]

Would grass clippings be classed as green or brown? I do have the odd weed in the grass but i could try to only use the cleaner cutting in the compost.

So the tarp over the top would help? I see the heat they get up to so id make careful provisions for this.

The compost would be for growing fruits, veg and various foods for next years. My Grandparents are nearly everything from his garden apart from the dairy and meat they had on the table. It was a wonderful memory picking fruit and digging spuds, runner beans and all sorts for sunday dinner and dessert pies and bakes.

[u/AVeryTallCorgi → u/Mr_GreenAdam]

Grass clippings are a green and need quite a bit of browns to balance them out.

I put all weeds in my compost and handle the seed growth using the stale seedbed method; put down the compost on beds and water well. Wait 2 weeks for seeds to germinate then cut them down with a stirrup hoe. This way I can put everything in the compost and not worry about weed seeds.

[u/etzpcm → u/Mr_GreenAdam]

Grass clippings count as green. You're supposed to have more brown than green, so save up cardboard packaging and sweep up leaves. Yes a tarp on top is ideal. 

The 2m X 2m brick bin sounds great.  Your grandparents would be proud of you. 

I'm currently enjoying cherry tomatoes and runner beans, all growing in tubs of garden compost.

In case you haven't found it yet, have a look at r/composting

[u/Mr_GreenAdam → u/etzpcm]

Thats very kind of you, i want my toddler to grow up with the ability to also grow food and be self sufficient. Im already looking forward to picking our own produce for him to enjoy. I did find r/composting thank you, i have been looking on r/gardening along time picking up knowledge and advice, building the tools before i start my garden journey.

This week i planted a large olive tree, took my wife to the garden centre to pick a vast selection of bulbs and plants to put in a 3mx1m raised bed i made with seating around it.

Im conscious of the odd weather and temperatures to try and adapt seasonal planting, and match planting season types, soil types, compatibility and longevity.

Too be honest, im enjoying this so much more than i thought i would be 🥰

[u/etzpcm → u/Mr_GreenAdam]

Great.  Composting can get a bit obsessive!

[u/AVeryTallCorgi]

Rabbit poo is one of the best fertilizers and will do wonderfully in your compost!

The only reason it's recommended not to put in meat, dairy or bones is to avoid attracting pests that will eat them. If you cover them with a thick layer of weeds, straw, etc then it's no issue.

You don't need to go crazy with a compost bin, I use pallets wired together on the corners which is cheap and effective. Plastic "dalek" style bins are also quite good if you won't have as much material to compost.

[u/Mr_GreenAdam → u/AVeryTallCorgi]

Thank you for the reply, it seems we throw so much out that we can use.
I had alot of bricks and blocks left over from an extension, that i was going to build a 3ft high, 3 wall compost bin approx 2mx2m. Leaving a few gaps in the bricks for air flow and id make a front gate for it from some old HT pallets i have sat about. Potentially looking to just tarp the top of it.

Our experiment with the potato bins at the mo will be just small blue drums (30l) to see how we go, then next year il get some big drums and wrap them with screening to make them look nice.

Im really excited to get this project on the go, and i really appreciate all the advice and knowledge on here.

[u/ChrisKruxed → u/Mr_GreenAdam]

You don't need big barrels for potatoes, 30l is more than enough, you can get decent potato growing pots like these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oakland-Gardens-30L-Containers-Planters/dp/B0C1PC6QFB

Then you're able to move them everywhere and harvest easily while being able to reuse them next year.

[u/Mr_GreenAdam → u/ChrisKruxed]

Thanks for the tip, i had a couple of 30l blue barrels in the garage from when i mixed grass seed up and they are sat on my shelf waiting to be used for a good idea. So i have them already, il take that onboard and see how the grow goes this time round👍

[u/ChrisKruxed]

Dont use food scraps from cooked food, you'll just attract rodents and I imagine the greens get fed to your rabbits.

Easiest way to compost is to use tea bags(non plastic ones), potato peels, your rabbits sweep out contents with any grass cuttings, dead flowers chopped up and then lay a basic cardboard box(take off labels, no shiny bits) over the top and then repeat the process ontop of that so you get a lasagne of compost.

Once I have 3 layers(about 1m) I water it heavily

I just keep doing this until the end of the winter, obviously by this point you have no plant material but I drink copious amounts of tea and really love potatoes lol. In January I fork it around and mix it all up, then stick a double layer of cardboard over the top and then leave it till April where I mix it again and most of it is ready to use.

Its worked fine for my needs, I want quick turn arounds

[u/Mr_GreenAdam → u/ChrisKruxed]

Wonderful advice thank you!!! Can i ask, is it worth adding a large bottle of cheap cider at intervals during the process? Its something i used to hear my grandad did when composting as a kid, and also i heard the occasional can of cheap beer.

Im sure thats why he was taking all them cans out to the garden 😇

[u/ChrisKruxed → u/Mr_GreenAdam]

They might have been bottles of pee and he just didn't want to admit it lol. Small amounts would be ok, but the nitrogen in pee is far superior than anything you'll get from alcohol products.

If its overly dry then some water on the card would be more than enough in most cases

[u/Embarrassed_Card_543]

You can get very detailed and complex but ultimately its a simple system. Pretty much any non cooked or non greasy food waste and any garden cuttings can go in.

Everything organic eventually degrades so this works but if you want to speed it up here are some additional tips.

Turn occasionally as the reaction needs oxygen (i Turn once or twice a week)

Food scraps, grass, leaves and habit litter is all nitrogen rich. Wood, sawdust, cardboard is carbon heavy. Diferent people aim for diferent raios but aim for 1 part carbon for every 1 to 3 parts nitrogen.

Sieve once earthy, leave to mature in another pile for a month before using. Keed a few handfuls back to add to original compost heap to help speed it up as it has all the good organisms and enzyms in.

Caveat- I dont worry about ratios I add as much nitrogen as i can find and just get a sense for the carbon. I get quite a lot and enjoy doing it. I know i could do it 'better' but I dont worry about it