Compost Bins - or the joy of making mud

A year or so ago we got a compost bin. It was just a small one as we don't have too much in the way of waste, but thought it worthwhile anyway.

Our bin is one of the plastic models that has a flap at the bottom to allow small bits of compost to be taken out and can be used to check how well the material is composting. It's also shaped so that the bottom is larger than the top, which allows the whole shell to be taken off the compost mound when it's ready - rather than having to scoop out large amounts from the flap or digging it out from the top.We just popped the compost bin on the ground so that the decomposers don't have any problems finding there way into the bin. The bin also gets some sun, but isn't in full sun.

There are two approaches to composting; the hot approach where you create massive piles of compostable material which generates lots of heat and it then turned as it cools down to keep the heat going, secondly there is the cold approach. The cold approach is slow and steady and it takes much longer to decompose into compost - up to around a year, which is a long time compared to the 6-8 weeks possible with the hot approach.

We go for the cold approach and the lower part of the compost bin is now clearly compost, which is great to see. It's important to fork the material round to really get it mixed up so it more readily decomposes. The more frequently you do this, the quicker you'll have compost. We only do this around once every couple or months, but may increase the frequency. It's also important to water the material if it gets dry - this can be done by intermittently leaving the lid off when you know it's going to rain, or by using captured rain water.

So what mater can you put into the compost bin? There are two types of materials that you can put into the bin: Green and Brown.

Green material contains lots of nitrogen and includes things like:

• Grass cuttings
• Nettles, comfrey leafs and young weeds, minus the seeds
• Tea bags
• Soft prunings

To ensure that you don't just get a slimy sludge after a few months, it's important to include brown material that balances the bin due to its richness of carbon.

• Shredded paper
• Tough hedge clippings
• Woody prunings
• Old bedding plants
• Sawdust and wood chippings

You may have noticed that we have some dandelions in front of the compost bin. Why don't we get rid of them you may ask - the answer is our rabbits! Squiggle and Poppy love dandelions and in turn we love what they make from dandelions! As you can see in the photo above there is a lot of sawdust in the compost bin. There's also rabbit poo, which is great material for composting - see gthe story of The Magic Bunny Poo. This is a new revelation to us, but will hopefully help us quicken the cycle of waste to compost.

So what shouldn't you put in the compost bin?

• Meat
• Fish
• Cooked food
• Cat litter
• Dog faeces
• Disposable nappies
• Plants with any diseases
• If you're using the cold approach, try to make sure that no seeds are introduced, as they won't be killed off

It is actually a wonderful sight when you see some lovely looking mud appearing from the tea bags and grass that we've put in. Surprisingly making mud is a joy, now if only I was still young enough to get away with making mud pies!