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Turning/leaving compost

hiacedrifterhiacedrifter Posts: 119
in Tools and techniques
I've got one compost bin which has kitchen scraps/grass/leaves added. It's been going for 18 months, and is often full then shrinks down to about 50%. I regularly give it a turn over to aerate .... but at no point have I just left it to break down. Am I best to have a second bin, so I can leave the other alone for a few weeks/months?

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 53,955
    It certainly helps   :)
    I've just reduced the size of mine to make it easier. Takes far too long to fill them, as I simply don't have the amount of green stuff to fill them quickly. Plenty of browns, but not greens.
    Having them smaller means I can get one filled, and start on the other one, leaving the first one to carry on in the way you describe. It still takes a long time, but they're easier to manage in the space I have.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • hiacedrifterhiacedrifter Posts: 119
    Fairygirl said:
    It certainly helps   :)
    I've just reduced the size of mine to make it easier. Takes far too long to fill them, as I simply don't have the amount of green stuff to fill them quickly. Plenty of browns, but not greens.
    Having them smaller means I can get one filled, and start on the other one, leaving the first one to carry on in the way you describe. It still takes a long time, but they're easier to manage in the space I have.  :)

    Do they need to be full before you leave them to rot down?
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 804
    hiacedrifter said:
    I've got one compost bin which has kitchen scraps/grass/leaves added. It's been going for 18 months, and is often full then shrinks down to about 50%. I regularly give it a turn over to aerate .... but at no point have I just left it to break down. Am I best to have a second bin, so I can leave the other alone for a few weeks/months?
    Yes.
    There is a current composting thread which may have answers for you.
    You have to draw the line somewhere with adding and adding more material and let the whole thing compost down.
    If you carry on adding then you'll end up with some things new and uncomposted with older stuff which is complete.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 53,955
    hiacedrifter said:

    Do they need to be full before you leave them to rot down?
    Yes, otherwise the new material you add just mixes with the old, partially broken down stuff, and it's counter productive. I only have one lawn now, and that's made quite a difference. Even though neither of them are/were very big, it amounted to a fair bit of green over the 6 months or so of cutting each week. 
    It's about getting a balance between the size of bin[s] and the amount of material you grow, and have to put in it, so just experiment a bit with another bin - probably a smaller one   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • hiacedrifterhiacedrifter Posts: 119
    MikeOxgreen said:
    hiacedrifter said:
    I've got one compost bin which has kitchen scraps/grass/leaves added. It's been going for 18 months, and is often full then shrinks down to about 50%. I regularly give it a turn over to aerate .... but at no point have I just left it to break down. Am I best to have a second bin, so I can leave the other alone for a few weeks/months?
    Yes.
    There is a current composting thread which may have answers for you.
    You have to draw the line somewhere with adding and adding more material and let the whole thing compost down.
    If you carry on adding then you'll end up with some things new and uncomposted with older stuff which is complete.
    Thank you, I will post on there. I had gone straight to my list of posts, and hadn't seen that one.
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