When we moved to Normandy last summer, my wife promoted me to Chief Composting Officer, with full responsibility for composting our green household waste. We have the standard plastic cubed composting box, which I’ve split internally in two, to permit more than one pile (A&B below) to separately compost. I’ve read everything I can lay my hands on regarding composting, try to ensure a good balance/mix of green and brown materials is introduced, regularly turn the composting materials etc etc.
I do have a couple of composting novice’s questions, which I can’t find answers to online, that I’m hoping more experienced souls can advise me on:-
1.How long do I continue to add new materials to the existing pile (A) before I should start a new pile (B), ie to give A a chance of breaking everything down properly, without continually having to absorb new materials? (Do I just go on adding to A until there is no more space in the box?)
2.Do I continue to turn existing pile A once I’m no longer adding new materials to it?
I used to have 2 bins each about 1m³ and could fill one each year.
Year one - Fill up A turning it 3 times during the year but on the 3rd turn I’d put it all into bin B and start a fresh load in A.
Year 2 - as year 1 but empty out bin B onto the garden.
Ideally I would have 3 bins to be sure that what goes on the garden is well rotted.
Just seeing your compost title pushes me to ask another question if you don’t mind, as I live deep in the countryside as I’m sure many do here in France. I want to start my own compost, but there is so much wildlife around here, including mice and rats obviously, that I wonder whether the compost would become an absolute breeding ground. Are there any hints and tips that keep any wildlife away, namely the rats and mice??? Sorry to butt in, but wanted to raise the question whilst on my mind
Apparently it’s best to avoid putting previously cooked material into the compost as it tends to attract rodents.
On the other hand, a compost heap that is away from the house and is home to a mouse or two will be good news for the local owl.
Putting material to be composted through a shredder first will speed up the whole process, and will also enable more ‘woody’ material to be composted such as the tall stems from the herbaceous borders at the end of the season.
No cooked food, meat or fish. Line base of heap with 2 layers of chicken wire to stop voles coming up. And recognise that mice in compost heap is better than them coming into your house.
I agree about the mice problem,or even rats, in that our compost heaps (3 big enclosures) are well away from the house. Mice and rats are everywhere so I’m not sure there is a great deal of point (at least in our situation) of trying to exclude them. We shove everything onto ours and find from experience what doesn’t rot down
We have a local collie that comes and helps herself, and when there’s nothing left to scavenge, she chases after any rats or voles - plus the local cat population that treat our garden like a tier 1 predator paradise
It only takes 1 or 2. So you’ve got it well covered !
I will never get over the hypocrisy of cats. One minute they’re asking for cuddles and schmoozing, the next minute they’re vicious predators.
It’s coming up to their favourite time of the year - when I see them more often with some hapless small murine treat. I measure their success on how small are the ones they catch.
I have made the experience, that in summer it is necessary to add water in order to keep the composting process going. Then the material will compost a lot faster and you do not need a second pile.
In cold areas you could put a tarp over the pile, however it needs checking that the pile still has enough moisture, because without moisture the rotting process will not continue!
Compost accelerator from brico/garden centre seemed to work. Along with leaving it open when it can receive moisture of course.
When my new one seemed to “pause” a friend told me to add more soft green stuff to the household stuff. This seemed to start it again almost immediately.
