Compost Bins

My compost bins aren't pretty. They don't get filled that scientifically either. But the bins I fill in the autumn have broken down in the spring to dark sweet smelling stuff that has a huge number of earth worms in it.
A few days ago I emptied two of the three bins and started filling one back up again with all the weeds etc that I have been pulling from the garden beds the last few weeks.

 

There are hundreds of worms, though by the time I got the camera ready, they had already burrowed under the surface.

 

One of the reasons that I cleaned the compost from the bins was to mound over the newly planted potatoes. It didn't take much to do that, and I still have lots to go in the garden beds that weren't turned into compost bins for the winter.

 

The potatoes are planted a little early, but with a little luck and no frosts, they'll be on their way by the time I get back in December.

As well as the three compost bins out by the garden, I also have a worm farm. The kitchen scraps go to feed them. A friend worm-sits them when I am away. If I have a surplus of worms in the worm farm I usually dose the regular compost bins with them to help get them going. 

It seems there is never enough compost to go around, but I always have some on the go. There are always a few of the raised vege beds that are resting, with a ring of chicken wire around them, and garden waste filling them up. I rotate the beds that are treated this way every change of season, so about every 3 years each bed will go through this regenerating rest.