Hotbins

Today I emptied my Green Johanna hot bin and moved it to its permanent home in the back garden, which turned out to be a rather bigger job than expected!

The bin was about a third full, and while it wasn't gross or smelly, there was quite a lot of coarse material: twigs, lumps, bits of not-quite-decomposed stuff. So I used my riddle on it and ended up with these three bags of nice sieved compost:

   

   

(Apologies for the blurriness - the camera decided to focus on the bag instead of the compost!)

I've put a bit down around the roses and tulips in the back garden where the ground is basically unameliorated clay, and will save the rest for later. I want to do some sowing trials, maybe with something I have loads of and can thus afford to spare a few, such as peas (I can eat them as shoots if they do well!). It might also be good for earthing up potatoes in containers.

I also ended up with three bags of the lumpy stuff, plus a bag of very twiggy material that was the original base layer.

The bin is now discreetly situated behind the trellis at the end of the garden:

   

I've put the bag of twigs back in there, but I want to layer the lumpy stuff with fresh new waste to prevent it from becoming damp and claggy. Still, I'm pretty pleased with the results, given that I've never managed to make compost before! I reckon that with a bit of practice I'll be able to make enough to mulch all my raised beds and do a bit of container planting as well