What I put in my bin

[Penellype]

I use sieved compost for sowing seeds and for carrots in pots. The chunky bits left in the sieve go into a bucket for use as bulking agent - they are...

[Penellype]

I would be concerned about putting diseased plants into a cooler hotbin. It may depend on the disease, for example tomato/potato blight can only live...

[Penellype]

I've put bones from whole chicken carcasses in after boiling them down for stock. The small bones disappear but the bigger ones from the legs do not....

[Penellype]

Thanks, that's great - I will give it a go.

[Penellype]

This is very interesting. My hotbin is currently running at about 20C and I thought I might have a look at the filter, but I can't see any way of getting...

[Penellype]

I don't have much problem with finding things to put into the hotbin over winter, but most of it is browns or very coarse greens such as leaves, herbaceous...

[Penellype]

That's interesting - thanks for posting their response. I had not considered the possibility of damp, but thinking about the amount of steam that sometimes...

[Penellype]

I have a wormery as well as a hotbin, but I haven't tried putting in half rotted compost, although I don't see why it shouldn't work. I'm sure the worms...

[Penellype]

I asked this when I got mine and was told it was not a good idea. As far as I remember this was because of the leachate that comes out of the grille...

[Penellype]

It depends a bit on what fuel you are burning on your barbecue. Ordinary wood ash from untreated and unpainted wood is fine to compost although I would...

[Penellype]

The finished compost should not be stinky although it may welll be sticky. It sounds as though you need to empty the bin, add a load of paper and mix...

[Penellype]

I think your problem is likely to be the shiny paper not rotting down as fast as everything else. I'm not sure that mixing it all up and putting it back...

[Penellype]

I use the internal thermometer. The one in the lid is really only a guide and I find it generally about 10-15C below the internal one, unless it is in...

[Penellype]

I sometimes find this too. I think these are brandling (compost) worms, which are different from the ordinary earthworms, and seem to appear magically...

[Penellype]

Several people have posted that they have trouble getting the hotbin to 40C even in the summer. I find mine runs at between 50 and 60C in the summer,...