Dear Beanie, you’re an inspiration. My wife thinks I’m becoming a composting addict. My bin is now filling nicely and well into the hot zone using only garden and vegetable waste - I’m a bit nervous yet of using food waste. Shredded paper is a bit of a problem so I’m using shredded woody material from cutting back hedges and tree branches. I’m looking forward to digging in the compost in the winter and bulking up my sandy soil ready for my spring veg planting. Thanks. Keith
Hi Keith That is nice to hear. The woody bits will be the bulking agent but you still need paper or cardboard. May be ask friends, family, neighbours if they can keep you theirs . Also pick up cardboard from shops if you need some. It sounds like you are doing really well and if you are in the hot zone then food is fine. It has helped our clay soil and i am sure you will be producing plenty of compost that will only help out your sandy soil.
Grinding your eggshell will great for the worms as they use it to grind their food up, and adds calcium to your garden. Your kitchen scraps have lots of moisture which is why it heated back up! It gave moisture to the carbon,aka bulking agent!😁👍
I like your video, I used cross shredded paper as line shredded used to clump hard in my cold compost, hopefully I see faster results with my new hotbin I just received a few days ago really excited.
Hi, welcome to the family! I hope my videos will help you out. It takes a wile to get used to the hotbin but don't give up and ask any questions you may have. Good luck with the new composter!
I’ve had mine for about 4 years and it’s never got up to a hot temperature. Tried assorts but the best tip is to use corrugated/egg boxes/ toilet rolls or soft card instead of shredded paper. You can get them working again by putting the Hot water bottle in to restart it.
Next video will keep watching over and over to get all your tips in my old brain , my nickname as a child brought up high on the moors was BEANIE 😂 used to run wild with pigs sheep and a wild pony now 77 years here worrying about a hot composter best wishes Jean
High five Beanie! That's great you are getting involved, I hope this videos are helping you out as hotbin can be challenging. How is the weather at yours? It's very wet here which does not help.
Thanks BC I’ve had one ‘harvest’ of my mini (great compost) but starting off again hasn’t been easy and I can’t get it hot again. Time to re look at all your TH-cams to find out where I’m going wrong! My sister only uses her bin in summer but I’d rather keep going through the winter if I can. What are the chances of keeping it hot?
Hi Sarah, I'm not sure where you are but here in Surrey is still quite mild. I am still nice and hot in the large hotbin even though I had a week after emptying some out where it would not go above 40 degrees. Every year I have a small period of a week or two when it goes out of the green but generally if you have enough waste then you should be able to keep it hot most of the time. It is not easy but can be done. There are a few videos that we did last winter that should help. After you emptied your bin did you give it a good stir up as you may have a large gap where the compost has not completely fallen down which I sometimes feel stops your bin from getting hot quickly again.
The hotbin can be/ is very frustrating. The is temperature ok then it drops for no clear reason ! Maybe Kate is right about your shredder ? I’m putting in waste. 50 / 50 paper OK so far You are supposed to be able leave the bin 3 months before emptying. I haven’t been able to it just gets wet Do you use the temperature gauge in the lid ? Thanks for the tip on emptying one side 1st I’ll try that. I have been emptying as fast as I can before it collapses. I wouldn’t put moss in unless it’s bone dry.
Yeah we found it very frustrating that's why we decided to do this videos hopefully they help people, I don't know if anyone from hotbin company subscribbed yet 😄 Have you watched our Beanie Chef yet? If your cooking doesn't work you can put them in your Composter 🤣 I never really go by the temperature gauge in the lid, for me it is never accurate, it only works if the compost is quite high and the temperature is above 60⁰C.
Used to have this problem but now we use approximate volume mix recipe for one volume grass cuttings, add half that volume of shredded paper, add bulking agent equal to half of the shredded paper volume we follow similar rule for kitchen food waste I have found mowing the lawn more frequently but cutting less short ie to a longer lawn length front lawn and back lawn means there's enough grass to feed the bin every two to three days. This keeps the temperature once achieved really nice and high and reduces leachate Good luck with it Bee, am sure you'll find the recipe for your household waste.
I've found a crosscut shredder produces nice small pieces of paper for adding in. Classical shredder produces long ribbons which used to be less manageable in the bin.
@@chriskeller7381 Hi Chris Yes it seems like they are popular on here so a good investment for the future when the standard one breaks. The long ribbons are harder to mix in.
how many months did it take you hunn. to get the ready compost from the bottom of the bin you took out? as i have the old big plastic bins and they takein ages. dont know wat im doing wron dont smell nasty smells ok. but its abit wet.
Hi Tom, I have not tried that but it is something to consider in the future when I next do a empty. Is that what you do and if so do you find it works better?
@@BeanieComposter I just find it quicker and easier, and much easier to mix in new stuff with the old outside the bin, and then fill almost to the top. I also keep it a bit more moist than yours appears to be, as the bacteria that cause the heat need mositure to survive. I last did it about five days ago. It took 24 hours to get back up to temperature, but has been at a steady 58-60C since.
@@tomarmstrong5244 Interesting. With the large one and the space we have I feel this would be difficult. With the mini though I can see this would work well providing there is enough space. I think it would be worth trying so thank you.
Dear Beanie, you’re an inspiration. My wife thinks I’m becoming a composting addict. My bin is now filling nicely and well into the hot zone using only garden and vegetable waste - I’m a bit nervous yet of using food waste. Shredded paper is a bit of a problem so I’m using shredded woody material from cutting back hedges and tree branches. I’m looking forward to digging in the compost in the winter and bulking up my sandy soil ready for my spring veg planting. Thanks. Keith
Hi Keith
That is nice to hear. The woody bits will be the bulking agent but you still need paper or cardboard. May be ask friends, family, neighbours if they can keep you theirs . Also pick up cardboard from shops if you need some. It sounds like you are doing really well and if you are in the hot zone then food is fine. It has helped our clay soil and i am sure you will be producing plenty of compost that will only help out your sandy soil.
Grinding your eggshell will great for the worms as they use it to grind their food up, and adds calcium to your garden. Your kitchen scraps have lots of moisture which is why it heated back up! It gave moisture to the carbon,aka bulking agent!😁👍
Thank you for that information.
I like your video, I used cross shredded paper as line shredded used to clump hard in my cold compost, hopefully I see faster results with my new hotbin I just received a few days ago really excited.
Hi, welcome to the family! I hope my videos will help you out. It takes a wile to get used to the hotbin but don't give up and ask any questions you may have. Good luck with the new composter!
I’ve had mine for about 4 years and it’s never got up to a hot temperature. Tried assorts but the best tip is to use corrugated/egg boxes/ toilet rolls or soft card instead of shredded paper. You can get them working again by putting the Hot water bottle in to restart it.
Thank you for those helpful tips, Barbara. I also like using the egg boxes and toilet rolls.
Next video will keep watching over and over to get all your tips in my old brain , my nickname as a child brought up high on the moors was BEANIE 😂 used to run wild with pigs sheep and a wild pony now 77 years here worrying about a hot composter best wishes Jean
High five Beanie! That's great you are getting involved, I hope this videos are helping you out as hotbin can be challenging. How is the weather at yours? It's very wet here which does not help.
Thanks BC I’ve had one ‘harvest’ of my mini (great compost) but starting off again hasn’t been easy and I can’t get it hot again. Time to re look at all your TH-cams to find out where I’m going wrong! My sister only uses her bin in summer but I’d rather keep going through the winter if I can. What are the chances of keeping it hot?
Hi Sarah, I'm not sure where you are but here in Surrey is still quite mild. I am still nice and hot in the large hotbin even though I had a week after emptying some out where it would not go above 40 degrees. Every year I have a small period of a week or two when it goes out of the green but generally if you have enough waste then you should be able to keep it hot most of the time. It is not easy but can be done. There are a few videos that we did last winter that should help. After you emptied your bin did you give it a good stir up as you may have a large gap where the compost has not completely fallen down which I sometimes feel stops your bin from getting hot quickly again.
just read this and posted a comment which should help.
The hotbin can be/ is very frustrating. The is temperature ok then it drops for no clear reason ! Maybe Kate is right about your shredder ?
I’m putting in waste. 50 / 50 paper OK so far
You are supposed to be able leave the bin 3 months before emptying.
I haven’t been able to it just gets wet
Do you use the temperature gauge in the lid ?
Thanks for the tip on emptying one side 1st I’ll try that. I have been emptying as fast as I can before it collapses. I wouldn’t put moss in unless it’s bone dry.
Yeah we found it very frustrating that's why we decided to do this videos hopefully they help people, I don't know if anyone from hotbin company subscribbed yet 😄 Have you watched our Beanie Chef yet? If your cooking doesn't work you can put them in your Composter 🤣
I never really go by the temperature gauge in the lid, for me it is never accurate, it only works if the compost is quite high and the temperature is above 60⁰C.
Used to have this problem but now we use approximate volume mix recipe
for one volume grass cuttings, add half that volume of shredded paper, add bulking agent equal to half of the shredded paper volume
we follow similar rule for kitchen food waste
I have found mowing the lawn more frequently but cutting less short ie to a longer lawn length front lawn and back lawn means there's enough grass to feed the bin every two to three days. This keeps the temperature once achieved really nice and high and reduces leachate
Good luck with it Bee, am sure you'll find the recipe for your household waste.
I had to replace my shredder and got one that sheds into short strands. This seems to have helped prevent the paper clumping together.
That's a really good tip Kate, thanks👍Hope this videos are helping you out and that you are enjoying them 😊
I've found a crosscut shredder produces nice small pieces of paper for adding in. Classical shredder produces long ribbons which used to be less manageable in the bin.
@@chriskeller7381 Hi Chris
Yes it seems like they are popular on here so a good investment for the future when the standard one breaks. The long ribbons are harder to mix in.
how many months did it take you hunn. to get the ready compost from the bottom of the bin you took out? as i have the old big plastic bins and they takein ages. dont know wat im doing wron dont smell nasty smells ok. but its abit wet.
Hi If you maintain the hotbin at 60 degrees then you can be taking out good compost within 90 days and mulching compost within 30 days.
Why not just empty the bin, keep what you want, and then mix the old stuff with a new batch. Easier than what you do here.
Hi Tom, I have not tried that but it is something to consider in the future when I next do a empty. Is that what you do and if so do you find it works better?
@@BeanieComposter I just find it quicker and easier, and much easier to mix in new stuff with the old outside the bin, and then fill almost to the top. I also keep it a bit more moist than yours appears to be, as the bacteria that cause the heat need mositure to survive. I last did it about five days ago. It took 24 hours to get back up to temperature, but has been at a steady 58-60C since.
@@tomarmstrong5244 Interesting. With the large one and the space we have I feel this would be difficult. With the mini though I can see this would work well providing there is enough space. I think it would be worth trying so thank you.