Compost heap: best practise?

bijapos

I'm moving into a new (old) house with a big garden so I want to get back to growing some veg again. I'll probably put in some apple and other fruit trees, some fruit bushes and some veg in raised beds.

For composting I intend to make a simple two bed system, essentially use four pallets on their side giving me about 1.20w x 1.20b x .80h. Use a carpet for the top, keep this weighed down with some potting plants. I might divide it into two to give one heap time to compost or just expand it next year. Either way I've a few questions:

1. Would it make sense to line the inside of the heap with plastic or cardboard to help with a build up of heat, or is it just better to let it aerate ?

2. On the ground (lawn) or off? I was thinking of putting in a slanted pallet or old corrugated iron at the bottom to catch some run off "tea" or should I just leave it rest on the ground and turn it occasionally.

3. There is a huge mound of lawn clippings at the back of the house, it's a heap that's been used for years, some of it at the bottom of the heap being years old is totally rotten, some is fresh and just a few weeks old. What would be the best way to utilise this ? Shoud I use it in the composter, or mix it in with the soil that I'll be using in the raised beds? Or just leave it be?

4. Rats/Mice. What's the best way to make sure that they don't come to the compost heap. (Can't get a cat btw much as I'd like to).

5. Anyone got a good, cheap alternative to making a wormery from scrap, don't fancy paying cash for something that I can knock together. The house and shed are full of old planks, pots, rubbish etc that the last owner left behind so I'll be using them.

Thanks for any replies or advice!

tommy2bad

Hi.
3 pallets in a [ _] shape will do for the first year. It'll hold an amount of stuff from lawn clippings to household waste like egg boxes and shells and all the veg waste. Next year add 2 more pallets and start again, by the time you get to year three youll have used all year ones compost.
Sheet of cardboard or newspapers on the ground will stop stuff growing up through the heap. Cover in winter, no need in summer.
The old lawn cuttings can have turned into silage more than compost but if you do use it in the compost toss it around and layer it with some brown stuff, torn up cardboard, straw, the emptying of pots.
Vermin? bait points if you can't get a cat.
Don't have a wormery so can't comment.
Compost isn't alchemy, it is just remembering to layer, green brown. Spread the fresh cuttings and cover with old compost or torn paper straw, stuff like that. The idea is to let air through the pile.

paddy147

Dont use blue or brown pallets that have been stained with a chemical preservitive.

Use plain untreated white deal pallets for your compost heap.

periodictable

Don't throw leftover food or fruit/veg peelings into the heap.
Try to get a mix of vegetation in it so it aerates well, and if possible get any males in the house to take an occasional leak into it