Storms and chickens

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I have a black council compost bin which is almost full so I'm thinking I should probably get another.

 

~ Anybody got one of these bins? What's the Comp 800 like? ~

 

Now, if I buy a new one what's the best way to go about it. Do I lift off my old bin, use any compost that's ready (expect a new post from a novice veg grower soon ) and transfer uncomposted material back into one of the bins. Or just leave the old one to get on with it and start afresh with the new one (which won't be in such a convenient location for the poo tray).

 

Sorry, this is a pathetic question - but you lot are so good at solving dilemmas .

[Louise]

Vicki I have a comp 800 and it is huge

 

The contents of the free council one barely made a layer on the bottom of it

 

You are welcome to come down and have a look if you want

 

I will try to remember and take a pic with a strategically placed cat or something for size comparison

[Ain't Nobody Here]

A photo would be great - I am worried about whether it'll fit in - my garden's tiny . Maybe I'll take a picture of "compost corner" and you can tell me whether you reckon it'd fit it . (I'll get the measurements of it and try to work it out too.)

[Olly]

I've got the Comp 250 and it's the size of a filing cabinet, the Comp 800 must be huge! I wish I'd gone for that though, as my two 250s are both full.

 

Annoyingly, I've just checked the scheme and my council is only covering the EcoMax ones now - if I wanted the Comp 800 it is priced at £77!

 

Regarding your second question, I'd just leave your existing bin to carry on composting, and start filling the new one.

 

By the way, a lot of people had trouble with delivery of bins from Wrap ... they are quite slow and customer communications isn't very good! Maybe it's better this time of year, not trying to put you off as these are very good prices.

[Guest]

WOW I wish I could get one of these! Our best offer is a 330l one for a tenner and the last one took 2 months to arrive. However I am going to order 2 more and then get friends to order the next ones.

 

I now have 5 compost bins, including a huge wooden one and a wormery and a Bokashi bin on the way. OOoh I'm so looking forward to eating home grown veggies next summer (I hope I can eat by then!). I'm a novice veggie grower too.

 

Luckily I have a huge garden and a lovely paved area down by the greenhouse, hidden behind a row of Torquay palms, where the compost bins live.

[Snowy]

I wanted the 800 but our council doesn't do them on the special offer price. Instead I ordered a 330 and sat back expecting a long wait. It arrived after about 2 weeks and is very large itself. I've had it a couple of months now and the bottom is only just covered. Meanwhile, I've been giving my original bin a stir every now and again and it's rotting down very well. It should be ready by the time this one is full

[Louise]

I will get a pic at the weekend for you I looked at it this morning when I was out to the girls it is big i will have to try and get the shed in the same pic so you can see how large it is

 

I will also need to tidy a bit first as the garden is a total mess

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I will also need to tidy a bit first as the garden is a total mess

 

No need for that - it can't possibly be worse than my garden - seriously .

[Louise]

Wanna bet

[Olly]

ooh - we could have a 'worst gardens' thread!

[chickencam]

I would leave the current bin to do its work for the winter and get another one but don't use recycle-now we waited for months for ours but having said that we did only pay £7 for it.

 

We now have 3 compost bins in our garden and on the subject of worst gardens ours only now has large shrubs and a close cropped lawn with the rest of the soil raked to a fine tilth by 4 pairs of scratching legs. How do I explain to the chooks that I would like my nicely cultivated fertilised garden back in the spring

[WitchHazel]

Compost really benefits from being 2turned", so I would be tempted to take the compost out of the old bin, and put it into the new bin. This will aerate it and help it decompose even more quickly,

 

If you don't fill compost bins too quickly, then I would start using the OLD bin for new compst material, leaving the turned stuff in the new bin to finish composting.

 

When the compst is ready, take it out and use it, then turn the old bin into the new one again.

 

If, however, you fill up quickly, then just add new material to the new bin (with the turned compost from the old bin into the bottom).

 

Hope that makes sense.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Hmm, I'm going to have to read that a few times - but I can see that it makes sense even without my brain computing it completely . Thank you .

 

I think I'm just going to go for a cheapish black one which will kind of match the old one.

 

Thanks for all your advice .

[jomaxsmith]

Just a tip - when you get your new bin, put small guage chicken wire underneath it and slightly up the sides so rats can't burrow in. It seems to have sorted out my problem of rats _in_ the bin, although before I put poison down they did make a home _under_ the chicken wire at the base of the bin. Can't thinking that dripping compost juice would be nice in your nest but there's rats for you!

 

 

Jo