Compost heaps and leaf mould

Hi.  Just wondering if anyone out there is still adding to their compost heaps/bins and leafmould piles?

I read that things do not break down in colder weather and so have stopped putting stuff in the plastic compost bin.  I don't want to end up with a bin full of un-rotted veg at the beginning of the warmer weather.  Am I right to be doing this? 

 Also, when I looked in the bin there was a lot of fluffy white mould round the edges.  Is this because it is cold and damp and should I add some paper/cardboard now and leave it alone?

Are there any good links for composting around?

All help and advice gratefully received!!!!!!

I've been adding to mine all through the winter. I do put a lot of shredded paper in there to soak up the moisture and it always comes out fine when i empty them out and sieve it ready to put on the garden.

i have 4 bins on rotation and it all goes in all the year round ..tea bags spud peelings etc etc as soon as the sun gets on the bins it ll speed up the process ..just a warning one year i opened up one bin to be suprised by 4 rats eeeeeek ... scared the life outta me now i always kick the bins before opening them

Yes, we get rats around too.  They are either after the compost or the chicken food.  As long as they stay at the bottom of the garden I don't mind too much.  But I agree - it would be 'eeeek' if I found one in the bin!

I'll start to compost again then.  Any ideas on the mould?

Pepa

Any ideas on the mould?

Hi Pepa,

Is your bin designed to allow good aeration?

Mould can be a problem where there is a lack of aeration. I would suggest, if feasable, that you give your compost a good turning over with a garden fork.

Hi,

I agree with Claire. I add material to compost all Winter. The only things I go very light on is onions and similar in Winter. Apart from that, it's business as usual. Sounds like you could do with more dry material like paper, cardboard, a very small number of twigs/leaves too. Worth turning it over as well. Despite what the experts say, I always add a smallish number of leaves, but mixed in with paper and veg etc.

Rob

with ref the leaf mould i just bag leaves up in the autumn and leave them for a few yrs before chucking them on my veg patch but im sure theres stuff you can buy at the garden centre to speed the process up

chavfinch

with ref the leaf mould i just bag leaves up in the autumn and leave them for a few yrs before chucking them on my veg patch but im sure theres stuff you can buy at the garden centre to speed the process up

Main thing to do is 'water the leaves' a couple of times. If you can seal the bag each time, worth doing too. Mine's good to scatter a year or so later.

Rob

OK.  I'll go out and give it a good churn!  I am thinking that I might need to acquire another bin and start again, making sure I get the layers sorted out this time.  But that will be a job for when it is a bit better out there. 

Does anyone have chickens?  Every now and then I add a layer of chicken compost to the big heap which I am hoping is ok.  Could I add it to the small bin too?

Question, please.

I put leaves in my leaf mould bin last year. Clearly they're not "cooked" yet. Do I put this year's in a new bin? I'm lucky enough to be able to do that)

See prior mentioned bin

Yes I'm still adding and all seems ok....

I don't like rats so all my 'food' 'teabag' compost goes into a series of dustbins with lids on! I have put a handful of worms in each one and I punch small drainage holes in the bottom. I only add this to the main compost once it has more or less composted down....haven't had rats yet!!...

I put a fine wiremesh over the bottom of my plastic compost bins to deter the rats, as we had them visit from under a neighbours decking. The mesh seems to have helped, still allowing contact with the soil but keeping larger than worms away!!

I add quite a bit of waste fom the animal's run that seems to speed things up, sawdust, paper + veggie poo!! My 'sod' mound is frequently 'watered' by the kids + this seems to be helping that to break things down faster, what tales they will tell!!

Does anyone else have a wormery? I love ours + have had it going for 3+ yrs now. It deals pretty well with the 6 of us + all we produce from the kitchen, but DH has a thing about the fruit flies rather than the worms.

Really want to try the Bokashi system but a bit of an investment + then the need to keep buying the treated bran. Any thoughts?

Sorry to hijack!!

Give it a good forkover + keep adding. Enjoy the results of all that which you might have thrown out, being ready to do good in the garden, so so satisfying!!

Are you guys talking about compost or leaf mould? I'm talking about leaf mould.

If talking solely leaf mould, I reckon that you have too much air there, not enough leaf. As Robbo says they need to be moist to rot well. If I had a wonderful bin like in the pic I'd fill it up surrounding the edges with newspaper first pack the leaves in quite well then cover in paper + something permeable like carpet. This all helps to keep the light out + moisture in. Give them a mixin the spring to move the heat about as the temp increases + away you go. I did blackbags of leaf mould stored next to the compost heap really well in Aberdeenshire although they did take a 'bit' longer than the black gold I produced in Kent!!