Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!
I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.
We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.
To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Gifts
Lovely books :-)
A tall lamp to help me with crafting :-)
A lovely Amber necklace
A hand made beeswax candle (smells lovely!) and a fab pair of crafting shears for cutting material :-)
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Christmas Day - outside
The feathery laydees all got special hot mash as a Christmas dinner - separate bowls to avoid any bullying(!)
Marjoram is the only hen still laying at the moment - all the others are either getting too old or are moulting
Yarrow hen ( aka Limpy Chicken) is winding down now we think - not ill but after a year with us out of the cages she is beginning to look very tired. But she still enjoys sunshine, mealworms, cuddles and food so not a bad life.
The wood is absolutely sodden underfoot - you can't really see it in this photo but there is standing water all over the ground, even though it is on top of a slight hill!
A rare glimpse of blue sky and sun, shinimg on the willows by the pool
A shamefully neglected veg garden but it is too wet to even consider walking on the soil, so it will have to stay looking untidy for a bit longer.
After I did these outside chores and Compostgirl had fed her Guinea Pigs ( they got special food as well!)
We settled down for an afternoon of eating, drinking, reading and watching TV.
Hope you all had a lovely day, we certainly did :-)
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Christmas Day at Compost Mansions 2012
Well the world did NOT end, the Sun rose again on the Shortest Day, and we even had a dry and sunny day here for Christmas.
Our tree is up in the sitting room, decorated and smelling of fragrant pine. The other decorations are all in place, the woodburner has been keeping us warm and cosy 24/7 for the last few weeks - good job we have lots of wood available ha ha ha :-)
Greenery from the wood decorates our house and home made wood cookie decorations from home grown, home cut wood adorn the tree ...you can tell I am a Forest School Leader!
Home made music scroll decorations ...
Home made straw and tissue paper stars
Marjoram is the only hen still laying at the moment - all the others are either getting too old or are moulting
Yarrow hen ( aka Limpy Chicken) is winding down now we think - not ill but after a year with us out of the cruel cages she is beginning to look very tired. But she still enjoys sunshine, mealworms, cuddles and food so not a bad life.
The wood is absolutely sodden underfoot - you can't really see it in this photo but there is standing water all over the ground, even though it is on top of a slight hill!
A rare glimpse of blue sky and sun, shining on the willows by the pool
A shamefully neglected veg garden but it is too wet to even consider walking on the soil, so it will have to stay looking untidy for a bit longer.
After I took these photos and did the outside chores and Compostgirl had fed her Guinea Pigs ( they got special food as well!) we settled down for an afternoon of Christmas dinner eating, some nice stuff drinking, reading our new books, playing with craft kits and stuff and watching some Christmas TV.
We had Roast Ribs of organic, local beef for Christmas dinner ( yum) and enjoyed a lazy day of books, music, tv and a few drinks just us as a family. The only outside work which has to be done is looking after the chickens cats and guinea pigs - who will get special food and extra cuddles for Christmas :-)
Best wishes to all of you my lovely readers, have a wonderful time and I look forward to you visiting The Compost Bin in 2013 - hopefully it will be a drier, more successful growing year for us all :-)
Hope you all had a lovely day, we certainly did :-)
Monday, 24 December 2012
Seasons greetings to you all...
Our tree is now up in the sitting room, decorated and smelling of fragrant pine. The other decorations are all in place, the woodburner has been keeping us warm and cosy 24/7 for the last few weeks - good job we have lots of wood available :-)
We have all sorted out our presents to each other - things we all want and will enjoy. We have lots of food and drink in the house, the animals are all bedded down warm and fed outside and indoors the three cats are basking on the rug in front of the woodburner.
Roast Ribs of beef for us here for Christmas dinner ( yum) and a lazy day enjoying books, music, tv and a few drinks just us as a family. The only outside work which has to be done is looking after the chickens and guinea pigs - who will get special food and extra cuddles for Christmas :-)
Best wishes to all of you my lovely readers, have a wonderful time and I look forward to you visiting The Compost Bin in 2013 - hopefully it will be a drier, more succesful growing year for us all :-)
Compostwoman xxx
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Christmas Evening outside at Compost Mansions.
Brrrrr -14 outside...Brrrr
The Feathery Laidees were NOT impressed, despite hot porridge, mealworms and cheese treats.
Saturday, 25 December 2010
More about Christmas Day
A Cheese making kit....for hard and soft cheese, with a press and moulds and all...
A Lace making kit...
The book of the TV series Edwardian Farm and the 2 Stephen Fry autobiogs to read
and a bottle of Spietzia face oil, which I love, it smells of roses and vanilla.
Feel very lucky and pampered today!
Compostman and Compostgirl seemed to appreciate their gifts as well and we have had a quiet, friendly family day together...which was the very best gift of all!
Happy Christmas Day!
Merry Christmas to all, its glorious here, sunny, blue sky, a balmy - 8 now, was -13 overnight (!)
Beef is slow cooking in bottom oven of Aga, went in about 8 am and will be done late afternoon...yorkshire batter resting, some presents have been opened, more to come...
all lovely but best one so far is the Cheese Making Kit (Hard and Soft) (thank you to my lovely Compostman

And the Lace Making Kit - Thank you Compostgirl

So some lovely crafty days to come for me, some involving milk I think!
I hope you all have lovely lovely days full of peace, fun, food and laughter ( and cheese).
Friday, 24 December 2010
Merry Christmas and a blessed Yule!


May you have a lovely, lovely holiday time!