On 1 Sep 2004 19:24:57 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article , gavin wrote:

I am very new to gardening so forgive me if my question is facile. I got
a
compost bin free from my local council - it's one of those large black
ones
that looks a bit like a Dalek :-) I put my organic kitchen and garden
waste
in there. Every time I take the lid off I am greeted by a swarm of
smallish
flies (I guess they're not really "flies"). Is this normal? Would this
indicate that my compost is not well?

Yes and no, respectively :-)

Care to enlighten me, Nick :-)

Yes, it's normal. No, it does not indicate a problem with your
compost.

They are probably true flies, called by gardeners compost flies,
snip

.......also known as 'Pppffbbbllltttppfftt'

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk