It's amazing what home composting can do.
At Easter I hired a petrol shreader( they're so much better than electric ones - which I always manage to jam or break), chopped back last years growth and, together with lawn cuttings and the leaves from the two oak trees behind us, set out to make compost. A Gardners World program (just about the only episode I've ever watched) suggested making a composter out of palets, so I di just that. 5 palets from homebase (for free) later and I got going. Having had weeds grow up through the ground on a previous attempt at home composting (using old fence panels) I got half a dozen concrete slabs from Wickes and put them down as a base. Then nailed the 5 palets together, cut up some old fence bits as slats for the front and got shreading.

I completely filled one half with shreadings, leaves and grass cuttings. And the pic is what's there 3 months in. It's absolutely heaving with worms now, which I guess is a good thing. I try to turn it every week or two and keep it 'sponge' wet. Last week it got too dry and the ants moved in, so todays task was turning it and watering it as we went. So I forked and Jenny watered. My back's now killing me.

I got a few plastic terracotta coloured pots at the dump today when I was getting rid of some old engine oil, so that's a win. I'm now on the lookout for cheap 'pots' - I was reading that one guy got a load of reject bathroom bins without lids for 50p each! Freecycle here I come!