Do you compost?

.. and what method do you use?

Did you buy a plastic bin, or have you built your own?

What do you 'feed' it, and what do you use as an activator?

Any tips? (especially for a beginner )

I got one of the £4 compost bins from the Sheffield City Council (Link here, go to 'offers in my area'). It's a plastic bin - not bad, although it's quite difficult to get in there and turn the compost over properly.

I haven't used an activator - I started when the weather was really warm, so thought I could probably get away without one. This winter is a different story however, so I'm on the look out for a good organic activator (if such a thing even exists - I'm new to composting too!).

I got a free kitchen caddy with mine, so we collect up all of the veggie peelings etc and they go into the composter. My tip would be to be sure that you get a good mix of 'greens' (cut grass, veg peelings, green leaves, etc) and browns (cardboard / torn up egg boxes, brown leaves, shedded (non glossy) paper) - when I first started I just chucked in loads of 'fresh' stuff and it soon got very mushy and wet I'm a little more careful to make sure I get layers of 'drier' things too now!

Isn't urine an activator Tracie?

LOL - yep, apparently it is! - I had a Google after I posted this morning and urine was indeed on the list of suggested organic activators

For the rather more faint of heart (such as myself ) I also found an compost activator called 'Organica' which claims to be completely organic (it's the first hit on Google, seems a lot of places supply it!)

Has anyone on here had any success building their own compost bin?

How organic is anything that comes in packaging and/or has to be transported Tracie?

*mumbles something about global warming*

Get yourself a big jug or an antique chamber pot

I'd be able to cheat - Brude's toilet (shower tray in the garden) isn't plumbed in, it has a cat litter tray underneath which we have to empty, so we're sorted for organic activator

come to think.... ...... no......on second thoughts.... I'm not bringing it bottled to a meet

Be carefull using ladies wee wees on plants as the Ph is very scorching to some.

Have the old fella keep a bucket in his shed or garage for the purpose

Dog & Cat & human pooh is not good for compost. ever.

I'm an obsessive composter, and having the priviledge of a huge garden, we are now a 5 bin family.

These are very cheap at £5 a go from the council.

Rhubabrb leaves too are a good natural activator.

How organic is anything that comes in packaging and/or has to be transported Tracie?

*mumbles something about global warming*

That's a very valid point - being relatively new to this growing your own lark I do still tend to see the word 'organic' and think - 'that's good!' My bad

Be carefull using ladies wee wees on plants as the Ph is very scorching to some.

Have the old fella keep a bucket in his shed or garage for the purpose

The chamber pot is then... but not for me! Mwahaha!

Any idea if rabbit urine ok to use Don? My new rabbit buddy has a litter tray lined with straw, and I was wondering if I could compost the contents of that too.

Any vegetarian creature (sadly still not human) so yes, rabbit, horse, sheep, all good

You may need to mix dry straw with a wet product such as grass cuttings, to aid composting too.

I have a plastic composter and its doing well, I mix soil with the stuff i put in there and i also throw earthworms in.

At the beginning of the summer it stank horrible so I quickly learned to stir it often.

If it smells bad, have a small fire with sticks & cardboard.

Stir in the ashes and the 'charcoal' will act as a natural deodoriser AND add potash to the mix

Well the stinks gone now thank god, but for a while my entire neighbourhood were on the verge of moving away en masse.

I'm in a position of having either very little to put in to compost (for most of the time) or having HUGE amounts to put in (when the privet hedge is cut), and nothing in between. I also can't find anywhere to put a compost bin, and having tried with other people's bins, would have great problems turning the compost, as spades tend to take 2 arms.

So I reluctantly came to the decision that I couldn't find a way of making composting work for my house. I would be interested in any other thoughts on making composting work for me though, as I'd like to think of prolems as not being insurmountable.