Compost and Chook bucket tip

We have a chook/compost bucket that all our kitchen scraps go in and then get distributed to the the various spots around the garden. The bottom of it always collects the messy sloppy stuff and things like tea leaves that get stuck to the bottom making it hard to get out.

I read somewhere (and if I could remember where, I'd put the link in for you) that if you line the bottom of the bucket with shredded paper it makes the whole emptying of the compost bucket a lot easier.

Here's what I did...

First empty and clean your compost bucket.

Fill the bottom 1/4 with shredded paper...

Fill with scraps!

Empty onto the compost when filled. Shredded paper is a pretty good addition to the compost heap either in the bottom of the bucket or as a bucketful to soak up liquid in a soggy heap. Make sure you spread it out through the heap though. A big blob of shredded paper will turn into a solid mass if you don't work it through.

On the odd occasion that the compost bucket with shredded paper in the bottom of it ends up in the chook pen, they don't seem to eat the paper, but they do shred it even further pecking the tasty morsels off it. We usually rake up the bottom of the chook pen and pop it on the compost heap once a month - so the paper ends up decomposed one way or the other!

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