'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
Why do so many of us not make our own compost? I blame bin designs
IN an attempt to save money, I ended up buying several compost bins that weren't fit for purpose - but they were cheap.
For years, I didn't make compost, as the awkward layout of the garden meant it was difficult to put a bin anywhere.
However, when I started to revamp everything, I bought a black plastic 'Dalek' from the council. It was reasonable, had a good capacity and fitted in the small space I had.
Unfortunately, it wasn't great. You need a large open area around it to turn the compost, by lifting the whole bin up, which I didn't have. The lid kept blowing off, meaning the contents either dried out or got too wet.
When any compost did form at the bottom, you had to faff about digging it out of the tiny hole with a trowel. It's like an endless task in hell.
Fed up with it, I bought another 'bargain' - the square wood slatted type.
Easy to put together and fine to begin with, but the whole thing has to be dismantled before you can get to the compost. It sat unemptied for two years.
My last hope was The Chamberlain Easy-Load wooden compost bin (Primrose, small 449litres, £21.99 on offer).
It has slats you can remove from the front, so you don't have to dismantle it, it's easy to fill straight from a wheelbarrow or dig out from the bottom - with a spade, not a trowel.
It's also available in different sizes - I bought two of the smallest.
I'll kept the Dalek for front garden waste (there's a hidden alcove where it isn't seen).
Compost bins on trial: pH soil testing
The wooden slatted bin and Dalek at the end of the garden.
Easy-Load bin: was it easy to build?
SO, how did the bin building go? It took five hours of graft (including moving the compost) and is definitely a two-person job.
First, making the bins. Get an electric screwdriver - there's no pre-bored holes.
Also, the screws are a little elusive - we ended up using our own until we saw the small packet taped to the end of the second-last piece of wood.
The wood is unfinished, so use gloves. Some of the pre-cut slots aren't a great fit, so you'll need a rubber mallet.
Apart from this, they are quite easy to fit together, but are heavy and you need space to make them, which we didn't have.
The new bins do the job, they're cheap, compost is easier to access and turn.
On the minus side, they aren't pretty (hit-and-miss green preservative) and after a year or so, they're falling apart. The wood is very rough - there was a couple of chunks in vital areas missing on one of ours. Also, they're so cock-eyed it's very hard to get the compost out - unlike the press illustration!
Wonky: the ugly sisters of the Chamberlain Easy-Load compost bin - sickly green and very rough wood.
The hots for Hotbin
SMART and shiny - and delivers mature compost 32 times faster than a conventional cold compost bin.
It super heats food and garden waste to 60°C, so you get rich, mature compost in 90 days, with no tumbling or rotating required.
The only down side is the price - the bins start at £165, but I've already spent half that on items that weren't much good for my purpose, www.hotbincomposting.com.
Picture; Hotin Composting
The pH reading chart matches pH 7, or neutral.
Acid remarks over pH value of soil
KNOWING the pH of your soil is vital to what you can grow.
You wouldn't buy a house without knowing whether its foundations were solid, yet most of us never bother to check whether our soil is suitable for the plants we want to cultivate.
I failed to grow a Rhododrendron years ago. This genus (plus azaleas, hydrangeas and heathers) are acid-loving plants, which hate lime, so I guessed my soil must be neutral or slightly alkaline.
I was right. Using a small pH test from the garden centre, it's easy to take a sample, mix it with the chemicals and compare the resulting colour with the chart.
There's a comprehensive list of what does best on acid, neutral or alkaline soils and suggestions on how you can improve what you've got.
My soil is pH 7 (neutral), which is a decent pH for most things. If you want to grow lime-haters, use ericaceous compost in large tubs or raised beds.