Hi NC. Welcome to the world of rot..... I think you are doing fine. This is a mostly US forum and they tend to take this business pretty seriously and worry a lot about ratios of ingredients, temperatures, turning etc. In the UK I find people tend to be much more lackadaisical about it and cold composting is commonplace. Just chuck anything in which will rot. If you can stretch to a second bin you can start filling it when bin A is full and then come back to A when B is full. Good luck.

Welcome newbie,Lloyd gave you good tips and floral offered good philosophy to make it injoyable. Just flip it with a fork when you think of it, keep doing what you have been and browse for tips that suit your style.

I have found this to be a very good tutorial on composting for those interested.

http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/compost-info/

Many people seem to have problems with critters getting into their compost, but if it is hot enough that will not be a problem. Keep in mind that compost happens, if it didn't we would be buried under the waste we generate. That tutorial will help you get on the right track, however.

kimmq is kimmsr

Thank you!

So the UK method is 'chuck everything in and put the lid on' and I seem to have instinctively opted for this.. great!

How about stones, and mud? In weeding the garden just about everything plant-based went in, will that pose a problem? - can I just sift out the stones in a year or 2, or does it not work that way?

Will watch the video now...

Does the link work for everyone else? I get a server error message.

No, that link doesn't work for me, either. Don't fret about stones and mud going in the compost. No big deal. I am unlikely to spend time taking stones out when I use it. But then there is no way I'm going to spend time screening compost; I just move it by the shovelful. I, too, would put in everything you are and perhaps more-- such as old cotton or wool clothing. I would not do anything to deter animals unless I were having a problem with animals.

"can I just sift out the stones in a year or 2, or does it not work that way?"

You bet,but if the stones are composted we will be asking you for advice. LOL Actually I often toss things in I know will not compost,or completly compost in some cases. Small limbs with large end showing above material are later pulled out one at a time to agitate material. Cereal boxs and other cardboard that hasn't been broken down first. My idea is that air is retained and when they collapse pile is slightly agitated. Then there's rubber snakes. Those cause interesting reactions when tossed into the nieghbors bin. I forgot to inform him after I placed a couple there to discourage rodehts hanging out. Did I mention gardening around my place is done 90% for fun?

The only rodents I have ever had were a couple of field mice who took refuge there in a particularly brutal winter; I found the nest they had made when I turned the compost over in the spring. I have had snakes, again, mostly when it's cold out. It's not a big problem unless you are in an area where there are big city rats.

Welcome newbie. As mentioned there are many diff ways to compost, you too will find what suit your needs.

Let me ask why you would want to add stones or anything that you need to sift out later? To me that seems to add to the work. I just toss stones into another pile or toss in the trash but I won't put anything in the compost pile/bin that I don't want in my garden. That means if it won't decompose it doesn't go in.

If you are trying to hot compost that can take a couple of attempts, so don't be discouraged.

I cover any kitchen scraps with leaves or carbon as mentioned so the scraps don't attract insects - I doubt that you want to breed insects either. While you can add small amounts of dairy to the center of a hot pile - I would wait until you master making a hot pile. I would not add dairy to a cold pile.

IF you want to cold pile you can use or add worms to help it just takes longer before it becomes compost.

BTW - cold composting does not and will not kill any weed seeds - this means the compost spread in your garden will then spread more weeds in the garden. So I would save any weeds for a H-O-T pile.

IF you are not happy with the results this time you can add this stuff to a hot pile later. I always add my kitchen scraps to the center of a hot pile.

Also worth noting that you don't need a bin or a tumbler to compost - you can just make a pile on the ground or use a wire fence ring to contain any leaves or such from blowing around. IF you get rodents make a ring out of hardware cloth.

Good Luck

Knock the soil and stones off the weed roots before adding to the compost. Just bash them on the ground or with the fork/trowel or whatever you are using. But if a few go in don't sweat it. I've never sifted compost in all the years I've gardened. I'm not trying to make something that looks as if it came out of a bag. If it has twigs, pebbles, etc. it doesn't bother me.

BTW 'Hardware cloth' = wire netting.

Hardware cloth was a confusing term for me also. Basically it is like a tight wire fence.

They say a picture it worth a thousand words - so I hope this helps.

Hardware Cloth

Or even this https://www.google.com/#q=Hardware+Cloth

It can be used to make a soil sifter, contain a compost pile while keeping out rodents yet allow for adequate air flow, used to line a garden bed to keep out tunneling rodents and many, many other things I am sure.

That's interesting. I thought it was a pan US term. I've had to get used to quite a few different terms on these forums. Even 'compost' has two meanings over here. 'Landscape' is something different also. And the whole concept of 'foundation' planting. But the biggest one of all is the word 'garden'.

Here's short gardener's Brit speak quiz for anyone at a loose end: secateurs, fleece, shovel, courgette, aubergine, climber, strimmer ....

"It's not a big problem unless you are in an area where there are big city rats.

Definatly watch for Detroit and Chicago politicians,they can spoil your best efforts.

Oh, strimmer, that's new to me. I like it. Useful. But fleece? Is that the soft pile jacket you might wear in the garden, whether wool or synthetic? Floral_uk, my mother and I both have read garden related books by UK author Tyler Whittle. We both learned a few words from those books, often single syllable words that seemed like we should have known them our entire lives, but had never encountered.

American English is confusing even for those of us who grew up here.

Having spent 33yrs in the USAF I have met people from all walks of life from all over this glorious planet. I learned that even without speaking the same language we can communicate with each when we give an effort.

It seems that wire netting has both similarities and differences from hardware cloth. Click here > wire netting

HTH

Fleece as in horticultural fleece. I believe it would be row cover or Agribon or something.

Strimmer string + trimmer = strimmer ie weed wacker.

Personally I like 'meatball' for blobby shrubs. Although I think the meatball is less prevalent here, at least in the garden.

Here's what I did do - put the bin straight onto a patch of level
soil/mud ground right at the bottom of my garden,

That's good.

So far, what has gone in there includes
grass from the lawnmower, weeds from the flower beds including quite a
lot of dandelions, any fruit/veg that went rotten including whole
potatoes and oranges, tea bags, all food waste (i.e. including some
cooked and dairy, though not much), some cardboard boxes and waste
paper.

My only concern is that you have a lot of fairly wet things going in and perhaps not enough dry and coarse things to soak up the moisture and prevent it from going stinky. What sort of dry materials do you have: dead leaves, sawdust, wood shavings, shredded paper?

Cooked foods are ok, but minimize meat and dairy and oils. They are not intrinsically bad, but an excess of them will decompose anaerobically and anaerobic decomposition reeks. I have composted entire dead bunnies, quail and pigeons by burying them in a compost pile.

Thank you once again, educational and entertaining :)

I think I have a 'cold' bin, it is black, looks like a dalek and comes from here:

getcomposting.com - it is called a Blackwall Compost Converter (the 330 litre version)

No dead bunnies in there... yet...

But maybe too many wet things - a few cardboard boxes - cereal, eggs, toilet tubes - but from what you are saying more is needed. Not sure I produce enough in the house.. might have to source some from the local supermarket (strange thought, actually going out to 'find' things to compost)

Stones are in there because I cleared a patch of garden, scooped everything organic up into a black bag then emptied the lot into the composter. Quite a lot of dandelions in there (oops) including roots and blowy seed top bits.

"might have to source some from the local supermarket (strange thought, actually going out to 'find' things to compost)"

Strange?????? Haaa haaa haaaa haaaa, that's everyday behavior for many of these people. Some have been threatened with arrest if they didn't quit digging in the dumpster in back of their neighborhood super market.

NC, do you mean to say you haven't yet badgered your work colleagues for their banana peels and apple cores? Not nabbed the bag of shredded paper from the office? Nagged the neighbour with the rabbits for the old bedding?

What's wrong with you?

Inquiring minds want to know. :-P