Do you have a compost heap?

We have a compost bin rather than a heap. We put all sorts of things in it! Organic matter - vegetable peelings, fruit peel, pine needles off the Christmas tree, leaves that have fallen off houseplants (leaves from the garden get mulched in their own pile!), grass cuttings, etc - and also some paper and card to help prevent it turning anaerobic, so I empty our paper shredder into the compost bin and also pieces of kitchen paper after they've been used and the cardboard tubes from inside loo rolls (when not required for craft...) and kitchen paper. These are great as they introduce a pocket of air into the compost, so there is plenty of oxygen to keep it healthy.
I like the bin because with its lid it keeps the compost safe from rats and other vermin but it does reduce the exposure to the air!
My parents have a proper compost heap, so they don't put any cooked food on to discourage rats, though there was a mole nest in their one year - the babies looked so vulnerable when we found them! A heap is handy as it means they can plant vegetables directly into the sides of the heap - my mum's marrows are prize winning as a result!

by VerityG

I keep getting random things growing out of my compost heap! It's great.

I do! It's a fenced in pile of rotting food at the back of the yard lol

by meggf

I'd love to have it fenced off...But I'm hoping the spiky pineapple plants will keep the cats and wallabies out!

Yes, I use to have one, but the bush rats chewed through the plastic bin, so I got rid of it.

by gbrow

Not allowed in the park where I live.

by jonaja

I most certainly do! It provides a great space for wildlife to get some snacks and also after a while gives me some great mulch for my garden beds and the vegetables love it. :-)

by atlea

I have a compost heap. It gets all the kitchen scraps, grass clippings, some cardboard and paper and I'm presently chopping up the stuff I cut out of my garden - lots of vines to be cut and put on the heap. I try to make sure it's in layers - so kitchen scraps get covered with grass clippings or garden rubbish so it doesn't end up smelling too much. I keep getting stuff growing out of the compost heap which is cool.

by lizzi

One word of caution - don't put any weeds on that you've just pulled up, or they will grow like wildfire! Some plants will sprout roots out of any cut, so even chopping them up first won't prevent them from doing well. All that compost is just the most fertile place for a determined weed.....

Yes. And up here we have the perfect weather for weeds! I do still feed the weeds into the pile though...Although the vast majority of my weeds are either grass or amaranth, so they're not too bad!

No, but we have a bin that accepts only compostable goods. The council picks it up every week.

by Vee

That's a great idea for councils to have that!

Yeah, only thing is, unless you keep your food scraps in the fridge and chuck them out just before pick up, expect A LOT of flies, maggots and the like. Especially in the heat. :-|

Yes, mostly food scraps. No onion, garlic or citrus fruit though. This year we have had a bumper crop of tomatoes which were volunteer seedlings from our compost!

by thriftyfrugalfun

Put all my compost able scraps into freezer. Where I live, have a crepe myrtle, which I planted a year ago.
When the weather is hot, I take two bags out & place at base of tree. This gives it water & food!
It flowered recently for the first time, & the lavender flowers were just beautiful.

At my previous home, a big compost heap was in backyard, so as well as all the 'food' contributions, the cut grass went in. If wanting good soil, used to dig out from base, & there was this rich, moist, fecund soil.

by donjo

My father had 2 compost heaps up the back yard. When 1 was full, he'd fill the 2nd 1. Both were covered over at night with tin sheets. My father had his going from the 50's-late '60's. He lived in Paris France for a lot of the time from '69-'76, then he died in '77. We've had 1 for years, in a large black plastic bin, with a lid. I put all vegetable scraps, pulled apart t-bags, & coffee grounds when I used a peculator,. With all our recycling we do, we only have 1 plastic bag of other rubbish bits & pieces, e.g. the plastic bags from the bread & from the packets of rice cakes. And all the fat I cut from the meat we buy, I put into a plastic bag in the freezer, to take down to feed the fish in the nearby river!!!.
i thought it was ok to put

by Miro