I use pallet bins for most of the communal composting on our Demonstration site  but must admit that they are not necessarily  the most attractive garden feature. However,  there are commercially available wooded bins that give the garden a smarter professional appearance such as the Forest Garden ( https://www.forestgarden.co.uk/product/slot-down-compost-bin/ ) large capacity slot-down bins, giving easy access to the contents . When buying wooden compost bins,  I would recommend choosing those where the wood has been pressure treated, so that they should last for at least 15 years, and that  can be extended so that they expand  into a two or three bin system.

Bins of this type are ideal for hot compost systems where the bin can be layered when it is first filled and then turned weekly  for a month. It may seem a lot of work, but it is quite rewarding particularly if the temperature is monitored.  Of course, if only one bin is used the material can still be layered even if it takes a while to fill the bin.

 We are about to add a Subpod to the Stokes Wood Allotment exhibits. Subpod   a relatively new wormery composting system  that is ideal for use in raised beds on the allotment and  community gardens, (where several composters can be in  used to form a bank of units). When installed  in the home garden the unit is designed so that it can be used as a  seat,  enabling gardeners to sit on their worms.  

  It is designed so that the part that houses the worms is  underground, so that the worms have access to the soil enabling them  to breed as rapidly as they like because there is always room for their population to grow. As important for the point of view of an allotment or community garden where the wormery may not be as closely monitored as at home the soil in the raised bed acts as an insulator in both hot and cold weather. While converting kitchen and vegetable waste to compost this twin chambered wormery also  increases the worm population in the raised bed.

Covid-19 restrictions mean that at present I cannot get to the Demonstration site to install  the Subpod but the idea of the demonstration is to the divide a raised bed into two and allow children visiting the site  to compare the  worm numbers in Subpod half  of the bed with the over half.

Old tyres can be used to make a compost bin and there was a time when they were appearing on allotments all over the country. Using tyres in this way had the   advantage providing a bin at no-cost and of saving the cost of disposal  while the plot was occupied by the person who built the bin. However, when that individual left the site the Society, landlord or next tenant  was faced with the cost of disposing of the tyres. As a result, tyres have rightly been  banned from many allotment sites. However, people may choose to use them at home,  and I have updated this information at the request of some of these readers.

  The bin was usually used in a   stack of 5 car tyres (larger tyres while making a larger bin too heavy for many people to handle safely). The bin is best built on a paving slab or weldmesh  base  to restrict the entry of rats through the bottom of the bin. The sides are rat proof as radial tyres contain steel wire . The rims of the tyres can be packed with old plastic compost bags or damp browns such as autumn leaves,  straw or hay this provides an area of additional bedding for the composting worms. A modified method which makes the tyres lighter to handle is to cut off  the tyre sidewalls using an  electric saber saw. If the bin  is to  be mounted on a slab once the bottom trye is in position can be filled with worm rich compost from an existing bin to act as a starter. Normally the stack will consist of five tyres to give a convenient working height. Unless the tyres are large and heavy in is best to wire them together in case, they are knocked  over, but this is unlikely as once filled the construction is quite stable. A piece of plywood cut to size or an old compost bin lid can be used as a cover held in position by a bungee cord.

  There are reports of chemicals leaching from the tyres. One of the other disadvantages of using tyres is that the compost at the bottom of the bin can only be harvested by removing the other tyres, so once full the bin needs to be left until all the compost is  ready and it is then best left for a year or two before use.  

I have started  to record the different allotment waste left in the Reception bin  at our Community Composting plot   throughout the year.  At the start of December, we had a good selection of vegetables including brassicas  and dead flowers as well as some smelly, mushy pumpkin right at the bottom of the bin. Today,  at  the end of the month  we  had  also had brassicas  but with thicker stalks.  As these would be slow to breakdown in the bin, they are given a good start by chopping them  into short lengths and smashing them  with a hammer to expose more surface for the bugs to work on. ( A photo of my brassica kit is attached). There were sufficient of these to make a complete layer in a pallet bin

Strawberries accounted for  the majority of plants  making two further  layers of “Greens” but as they were pulled up when the ground was wet, they unfortunately  supplied quite a lot of unwanted soil as well. As it is just after Christmas shredded paper from presents and the computer provided most of the Brown layers supplement with cardboard.

Most of the pumpkin was added  to the Hotbins and Green Johanna. As a result of the cafe lockdown closure  these bins have not been fed with cooked food waste recently resulting  in the Hotbins cooling down for the first time in their working life. Still, they have been busy  cool composting the material that was left  in them with the addition of occasion garden waste top ups. They now contain  a mass of worms and some good-looking immature compost.  Most of the 30+ bins on the site are full.  or nearly full, with one Reception bin about to become a working bin to meet the demand. There is also  a new large  wooden bin ready to deal with the January and February  waste. It looks as if another Bokashi windrow might be necessary to get us through to the spring. If you are local to Leicester and interested in being involved do get in touch.

Paper  is almost a prerequisite for modern home composting but not all paper is the same, and some is better recycled than composted.  Where paper material is both compostable and recyclable the latter is usually the better environmental option as it reduces the need to fell trees. Making paper from recycled material also requires less energy and uses less water than making it from timber. However, there are times when home composting is the better alternative provided the right bin or technique is used.,-e.g.   for paper, such as tissues and shredded paper, which in many areas cannot be recycled or composted via the council kerbside collection.  In addition,  there will be some waste e.g. where food materials have soaked into cardboard which would contaminate the recyclable waste stream if put into the kerbside collection system e.g. greasy pizza boxes. Concern is often expressed in internet forums that printing inks are toxic and therefore printed paper should not be composted, this may well have been the case in the past, but these are now banned, and modern vegetable inks are safe to compost.

Shredding and home composting confidential paperwork containing financial and personal information provides security, but this is not the primary reason for composting shredded paper. Paper is an excellent source of carbon (cellulose) and a means of absorbing moisture from kitchen and catering waste

 If a hot composting batch system is being used, where the objective is to produce compost quickly, the lower the lignin content of the paper the better as the woody lignin is slow to breakdown. In cold composting the actual time taken for the paper to decompose is not so important as the normal processing period is much longer and it does not matter if some recognizable paper is present in the final compost as it can easily be put back into the bin. The technique used to produce the paper will effect  and this with other information on composting paper and cardboard is given at composting Compost C: N Ratio - www.carryoncomposting.com