teeniest compost bin ?

[gentlegreen]

I no longer have a forgotten corner of the garden to chuck my small amount of food waste in and I have to brave the task of dumping veggies that managed to go bad in a fridge that's more like a freezer ...
What's the smallest successful composting arrangement urbanites have tried ?

 

[Leafster]

In my experience you tend to need something close to a metre square and deep to get things composting but I have got a small HotBin which works well with kitchen scraps and the softer items of garden waste.

They're not cheap though.

HOTBIN Mini (100L) | HOTBIN Composting

The HOTBIN Mini 100L is a slimline hot composter ideal for smaller gardens and households producing less waste. Perfect for eco-conscious composting, it transforms garden and food waste into rich compost using ARPRO insulation for efficient, year-round composting. Shop now!

www.hotbincomposting.com

They do compost quickly in the summer although it's a bit slower in the winter when it doesn't get up to a good temperature inside.

You could try making one!

 

[prunus]

I no longer have a forgotten corner of the garden to chuck my small amount of food waste in and I have to brave the task of dumping veggies that managed to go bad in a fridge that's more like a freezer ...
What's the smallest successful composting arrangement urbanites have tried ?

Bokashi.

 

[gentlegreen]

Bokashi.

I knew someone would say that
See also kefir and kombucha in my list of things to try ....

 

[gentlegreen]

In my experience you tend to need something close to a metre square and deep to get things composting but I have got a small HotBin which works well with kitchen scraps and the softer items of garden waste.

They're not cheap though.

HOTBIN Mini (100L) | HOTBIN Composting

The HOTBIN Mini 100L is a slimline hot composter ideal for smaller gardens and households producing less waste. Perfect for eco-conscious composting, it transforms garden and food waste into rich compost using ARPRO insulation for efficient, year-round composting. Shop now!

www.hotbincomposting.com

They do compost quickly in the summer although it's a bit slower in the winter when it doesn't get up to a good temperature inside.

You could try making one!

Click-click whirr -whirr ...
Remembers a low-geared motor from a long-term chain-cleaning project and the 1970s mainframe tape drive motor that failed as a load on the ill-fated static bike project of 2020 .. actually my old battery drill would do it ...

I just need a perforated drum ...

There have been several spectacularly bad crowd-funding projects for very expensive kitchen gadgets involving lots of electricity ...

 

[The39thStep]

Click-click whirr -whirr ...
Remembers a low-geared motor from a long-term chain-cleaning project and the 1970s mainframe tape drive motor that failed as a load on the ill-fated static bike project of 2020 .. actually my old battery drill would do it ...

I just need a perforated drum ...

There have been several spectacularly bad crowd-funding projects for very expensive kitchen gadgets involving lots of electricity ...

I've seen those ie smart composters, compost in four hour types. Great idea but obviously not as this time.

 

[iona]

You could probably diy a worm bin pretty easily? Or just bury it if it's only really small amounts?

 

[contadino]

I think the reason compost heaps are big is because they work so slowly, and I think they could be speeded up by insulation. I'm about to pull the trigger on a hot bin and it seems just a normal composter designed to maintain a higher temperature. 6 week compost processing time.

As such, a couple of small buckets wrapped in insulation should work just as well. I say a couple so that you could rotate them around, filling one while the other is working.

 

[gentlegreen]

You could probably diy a worm bin pretty easily? Or just bury it if it's only really small amounts?

mmm I suppose so ... just trying to think where ...
Actually my neighbours over the back have left a fox corridor they never visit - I already donate my snails .....

I've been keeping my coffee grounds separate - supposed to be useful for slug control ?

 

[Leafster]

I think the reason compost heaps are big is because they work so slowly, and I think they could be speeded up by insulation. I'm about to pull the trigger on a hot bin and it seems just a normal composter designed to maintain a higher temperature. 6 week compost processing time.

As such, a couple of small buckets wrapped in insulation should work just as well. I say a couple so that you could rotate them around, filling one while the other is working.

If you're getting a Hotbin, go for the larger one if you've got the space as I think they hold their heat better in the winter than the smaller one.

 

[contadino]

If you're getting a Hotbin, go for the larger one if you've got the space as I think they hold their heat better in the winter than the smaller one.

I have the space, but we're only a household of two people. What I've read has me worrying that we don't produce enough material to run a big one.

 

[gentlegreen]

I don't generate much waste and used to have a plastic bin in the front garden that was never a composter per se - mostly worms, - even had flushes of ink cap mushrooms in it.
Next door's "composter" had a spectacular flush of parasols around the base - I don't know what they used to put in it ...

I suppose I should do my duty and repair the council collecting bin - but it actually goes to a digester so no paper ...
Bottom line is I object to giving ANYTHING away - even my wee and poo - and will remedy that in the future ..

 

[Leafster]

I have the space, but we're only a household of two people. What I've read has me worrying that we don't produce enough material to run a big one.

It's just me here and I have enough kitchen waste, shredded paper and garden weeds etc. to more than fill the small one. Just don't put anything too woody in it. I think I'd find enough for the larger one. I just didn't have the space for it where I needed it to go.

 

[iona]

mmm I suppose so ... just trying to think where ...
Actually my neighbours over the back have left a fox corridor they never visit - I already donate my snails .....

I've been keeping my coffee grounds separate - supposed to be useful for slug control ?

You can keep a worm bin indoors too...

Sceptical of the coffee grounds thing tbh, egg shells are supposed to do the same and when some university did a study they actually attracted slugs. Their slime lets them cross much sharper things and shouldn't think there's enough acidity left in grounds after brewing to bother them. Give it a go though.

 

[contadino]

It's just me here and I have enough kitchen waste, shredded paper and garden weeds etc. to more than fill the small one. Just don't put anything too woody in it. I think I'd find enough for the larger one. I just didn't have the space for it where I needed it to go.

Okay, will do. Thanks for the tip.

 

[iona]

I have the space, but we're only a household of two people. What I've read has me worrying that we don't produce enough material to run a big one.

You have a garden iirc? You can put garden waste in them too. One of my work gardens has a big hotbin which I top up with garden stuff as the couple living there don't produce huge amounts of kitchen waste (they also have regular compost heaps)

Being able to put stuff like bread and bones in them means you'd have more to put in than with a cold heap too.

 

[pug]

I use a 100l drum with alternate layers of autumn leaves and kitchen waste, I keep it sealed and roll it about to mix it.

 

[gentlegreen]

I use a 100l drum with alternate layers of autumn leaves and kitchen waste, I keep it sealed and roll it about to mix it.

I could use my "oddJob", but it's the only suitable container I have to mix 20 litres of hydro nutes ...
I dread to think what I paid for that thing !

 

[WouldBe]

Rabbits are good at breaking down (raw) kitchen waste. Dad always used to feed cabbage and sprout stalks to my rabbit. Broken down in a day unlike when he used to put them in the compost heap and they would still be there a year later.