My last post was on composting onion and whether the majority of practical composters followed, or knew of,  the advice that used to be on some websites not to add them to the bin. It would seem most like me are happy to add them in moderation and have seen no effects on the worm popuation.  This week to continue the theme I found a load of leeks in the communial reception bin. This  batch have now  been chopped up and added to one of themain pallet  bins.  Again these used to appear on the with on the "compost in moderation lists"  but now are happily composted unless they have rust. As with onions the main problem mentioned now is the odour. 

This morning I found half a dozen onions in our communal composting reception bin. Which has resulted in the following  contribution.

There is advice out there that  the onion family and citrus fruits should not be added to the wormery. It is said that they may increase the acidity of the decomposing materials and as high acidity levels will kill the worms it is better not to add them to small domestic wormeries. However, many composters do add onions, shallots, leeks, and garlic to their wormeries either  cooked or in small amounts and  find that   feeding  these  materials in moderation  does not cause problems.

I use two 5 litre caddies to collect kitchen  waste , one for  uncooked kitchen waste,  for the wormeries,  and a second for onion, garlic, citrus, and cooked food which is composted. The   onion and  garlic are put into this  second caddy which is  taken  to the “cooked food”  compost bin or is added directly to a Bokashi bin.to avoid odours in the house.  Onion and cooked waste added to the compost bin is buried, again to reduce odours, which might attract vermin.   

I have relatively small domestic wormeries but many of those with larger scale wormeries who add onion is small amounts have not reported problems although  the worms may be slow to eat the dry outer layer of onion peel

Whole onions added to the bin (as in the photo)  may grow  new shoots but if chopped into small pieces when adding to the bin this should not be a problem. I often  to use  a layer  of shredded paper immediately above the layer containing the chopped onions or onion peel  as I once read that this helps absorbs  the smell ( and I tend to have lots available). Mouldy onions from the kitchen can be composted but it is best not to compost diseased onions from the garden unless you are sure you bin will reached and stay in the thermophilic temperature range.

 In addition to the page on  winter composting techniques I have included this section on Christmas, and similar festive waste, detailing how to reduce food waste and composting different seasonal waste as well as disposal methods for other seasonal waste.

Christmas is a festival which results in vast quantities of food waste. During the Christmas season, we in the UK eat much more than we need and 80 per cent more than during the rest of the year. Not only are we eating more we are wasting more binning approximately 230,000 tonnes of food waste during the Christmas period with 53 per cent of people confessing  that they throw away more food at Christmas and about a third of families admit to wasting some of their Christmas dinner. In fact, it is estimated that nearly 10 per cent of every festive meal is wasted. This is valued at about £64 million.  Of all the festive food turkey causes the most problems with one in 10 families having binned an entire bird as the result of a cooking mishap.

Plan now for Christmas food waste composting

The best way to reduce Christmas food waste is by buying only what is needed and cooking and eating any leftovers. As always, the key message is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle but as a composting website our message is to home compost your waste where possible. This covers all “unavoidable” food waste including cooked food.  Uncooked fruit and vegetable wastes e.g.  peelings from Christmas vegetables and satsuma peel, can all be composted in the normal compost bin. Cooked foods can only be composted in a hot composting system, a food waste digester, bokashi bin or wormery.

 Normally it is not advisable to add liquids to compost bins, but they will take “plate scrapping” quantities of gravy, cranberry sauce, etc. preferably mixed with shredded paper or cardboard Christmas nuts can be smashed with a hammer and composted. Food waste counts as a composting “green” and it must be balanced by adding an equal amount of “brown” materials to the compost bin.

Compost Bins for Cooked Food

Now is the time to plan to extend the range of food waste that you can compost at home by adding a food compost bin to your Christmas list or by buying one as a December treat. Depending on your needs and resources one of the following three bins can take your cooked food waste plus the normal garden waste.

 Hotbin  We have  two Hotbins at the Stokes Wood Composting Demonstration, Leicester site using them to compost waste food from the café as well as normal garden waste. They are well insulated so ideal for winter use and it is relatively easy to maintain a compost temperature of 40-55C provided they are fed regularly

Green Johanna  I have used a Green Johanna for over 10 years both at home and on our Demonstration site.  All Christmas food waste can be composted as well as garden waste. A winter jacket can be purchased separately to keep it working when the average outdoor temperature drops below 5°C but I tend to wrap mine in several layers of bubble wrap.

 Jorraform 125  The Joraform compost tumblers are the most expensive of the three but are excellent for food composting being quick and easy to use. I have used mine to compost waste food from a small cafe            

. Bokashi Bins.    Bokashi is also a  useful system for those without a garden or who want to convert cooked food waste into a material that can be composted in a conventional compost bin. Bokashi bins can be kept in the kitchen or outside in a shed or garden.

Talks on composting can be provided for garden, horticultural clubs and allotment societies. Practical training sessions will be  provided at our Composting Demonstration site Stokes Wood Allotments Leicester   in the new year

 In addition to being used as a composting “brown”, which can be kept dry and  saved for use during the winter months   autumn leaves  can be used as a  mulch,  in a layer in lasagne composting, as  worm bedding, and to make leaf mould.

Composting

Autumn  leaves that have turned brown and fallen to the ground provide a good  source of carbon when  composting winter crops. Leaves tend to be slow to compost and some sources in the UK do not recommend their use when home composting. I ca understand this attitude when dealing with household waste, where there is cardboard regularly available,  but when dealing with winter garden waste they are a valuable resource.  Shredding the leaves will accelerate their decomposition. This can be done using  a leaf shredder or by scattering them on the lawn and mowing with a rotary lawn mower.

They can be bagged and stored dry  until required  and should be mixed, or layered with,  with a “green” material high in nitrogen e.g.  manure, grass clippings, or food scraps. If cold compost leaves in a dalek type bin, nitrogen rich  food scraps, kitchen waste such as vegetable leaves,   can be used.

If added to a compost bin, or heap,  leaves may tend to mat, and this may result in some anaerobic decomposition unless they are regularly aerated or have been shredded pre-mixed with greens

 If hot composting leaves, the  compost bin  should  be at least one cubic meter (3 cubic feet) to  retain the heat and help the leaves decompose more quickly. When using leaves when hot composting I follow a 6-8” layer of leaves with a 1-2” layer of manure as two of the  brown and green layers  when constructing a bin using alternate layers of green and browns. Others suggest using thinner layers of leaves. Some add a layer of soil between the leaves and manure. If manure is not available another nitrogen rich layer may be used  such as dried blood, or bone meal.   More information is provided at  http://www.carryoncomposting.com/142941489

Grass/Leaf Sandwich

 An alternative to adding the shredded leaves to a compost bin is to make a leaf/grass sandwich using alternative layers of grass and leaves as if you were Grass Boarding substituting the leaves for the cardboard that would be used in a grass board heap.

Leafmould Choice of Leaves

 With leafmould it is necessary to make use of the leaves that are available  and if necessary, to adjust the procedure to obtain the best result. All leaves, including conifer needles, will eventually breakdown but some will do so more quickly than others and should be treated separately. Small quantities of the more awkward ones such as holly and other evergreens are best shredded and added to the compost bin.

Traditionally leafmould was made by piling the leaves in a heap and keeping it sufficiently wet to prevent them blowing all over the garden, or by imprisoning them within a wire netting cage. However, we can now bag and  the store wet leaves for two years. Coffee grounds and/or urine can be added to speed the process. (http://www.carryoncomposting.com/142941489) 

The photo shows leafmould corning at our Stokes wood composting site 

Bokashi leaf compost

 There is a variation on making leaf mould using plastic sacks this involves adding the contents of the Bokashi bin to the plastic leaf mould sack containing dry leaves during the winter months. This is reported to produce leaf compost during the coming spring and summer. I have not tried this, but further details are on Jenny`s Bokashi Blog.

https://bokashiworld.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/autumn-leaves-make-great-pumpkins/