hi all i'm trying to start a compost heap, does any one know where i can get material it. does anyone know a place that sells bails of hay or straw and manure for a good price. thank you by the way I'm from Sydney
Re: hay/straw bale and manure I didn't buy any mulch to put into my compost heap, I use the lawn clippings and any kitchen waste. Cover and water daily so it breaks down quicker.
Re: hay/straw bale and manure kitchen scraps including your neighbours, coffee grindings, including from your work, offcuts from the local vegie shop, lawn-clippings, you could even try setting up an environmental initiative at work, where compostables are put in a bin and you compost them for them. The idea isn't really to take good useful materials to make them into compost, the idea is to use things that would otherwise be wasted.
Re: hay/straw bale and manure I don't know Sydney, but I'm pretty sure that if you headed out somewhere rural you'd eventually find someone selling manure in the road side for next to nothing. Rural supplies stores or horse stores will have lucerne straw bales. Otherwise you need to head to your local garden supplies place, but it won't be cheap. There's so much stuff being carted off to land fill that you could use wisely instead. Beg from neighbours or the local fruit and vege shop. Paper shreddings from the office work too. Find a local wood working club or saw mill for sawdust. Talk to a local lawn mowing firm about using their grass clippings.
Re: hay/straw bale and manure Check out local race courses, or head out past dural or similar. Some where semi rural there will be someone selling some form of poo by the side of the road. Although I understand it's getting hard to find rural in Sydney. Gets some chooks of your own. Or guinnea pigs.
Re: hay/straw bale and manure Hi, Getting horse manure is sometimes the easiest. As the previous reply noted Dural will have people that keep horses - you might even find them closer to town. For instance the Police at Bourke St, Redfern have a Mounted (horse) Police section. Over thrity horses there so there must be plenty of shit. I also use fresh grass clippings from mowing and mix this 50/50 with the horse manure (normally not fresh) and this produces an great compost. You could throw in any other material from you house or even find a tree trimming company and follow them around with a trailer - in no time you will have more then you could ever use. Good Luck
Re: hay/straw bale and manure Gday Fouad Mate, I'm from Sydney too and its difficult to find CHEAP compost ingredients. Yes you can do the lawn clippings and food scraps bizzo but I have a worm farm and use all the castings. Its cheaper than trying to source materials and once its cranking it pumps out a pretty good compost substitute in a quarter of the time. I have also gone on holidays (out of Sydney obviously) and come back home with about a million cubic metres of carbon and a box trailer full of nitrogen. So if thats an option do that...if its not...then don't do it. Prawn over and out