Composting is a natural form of recycling garden and kitchen waste such as vegetables, plants and leaves into a quality compost at virtually no cost to you. About half of the waste in your bin is organic material. If you have a garden, you could turn this waste into compost rather than throwing it away.
What are the benefits of home composting?
- Saves money by replacing shop bought soil improvers
- Protects the environment by both reducing waste going to landfill and the need for garden fires. It also replaces peat products which are dug from important wildlife sites
- Provides an excellent soil conditioner, adding organic matter and nutrients to improve poor soils. Also improves soil structure and water retention in both clay and sandy soils
- Compost helps maintain healthy plant growth, suppressing some plant diseases and pests while improving the microbial and worm population of the soil.
Getting started
Compost is best made in a home made or shop/garden centre bought composter. This should be placed in the garden on bare soil, ideally in a warm place to speed up the composting process.
A composter can easily be made at home:
The simplest can be made of chicken wire. Simply measure a section of wire to meet the size of container you want. Wrap the wire around to make a cylinder and fasten with twist ties. To anchor the bin, staple to wood poles. Cover with an old carpet, preferably a natural pile, or cardboard or plastic to keep the compost warm and prevent over soaking from rain.
Another simple compost bin is made of an old rubbish bin with lid, with about 12 holes (around 12mm apart) drilled randomly in the bin for drainage. This is a very inexpensive and simple bin to make. Materials can be mixed by securing the lid and rolling the can.
A third method is to use wooden pallets made of untreated timber, secured at the corners with wire or nails, covered as above with carpet, card or plastic.
The main ingredients
Browns
- Sawdust/wood ash (untreated wood only)
- Shredded paper and torn cardboard, egg boxes etc
- Dead flowers
- Hedge prunings
- Fallen leaves.
Greens
- Raw fruit and vegetables
- Used tea bags/leaves and coffee grounds
- Soiled pet bedding (but not cat/dog faeces)
- Egg shells
- Grass cuttings
- Stable manure and bedding
- Weeds (avoid persistent weeds and weeds in seed).
Do not use
- Treated wood
- Diseased plants
- Meat, fish, bread and cheese
- Cooked leftovers
- Coal ash
- Cat and dog faeces
- Nappies
- Metals, glass and plastic.
Try to add equal amounts of browns and greens and avoid adding woody stems.
Things to remember
Air - turn the pile regularly through spring and summer.
Water - ensure your compost is moist but not wet. Add water if too dry, cover, and add dry material if too wet.
Watch it rot - most compost piles built with a 50/50 ratio of browns and greens (be careful on the quantity of grass cuttings added) and enough water and air will shrink down to half the original volume in a few days. To speed up the composting process add soil, finished compost or a compost accelerator - young nettles are an excellent natural accelerator.
Finished compost - this is ready when it is dark in colour and has an earthy smell. This can take from six to 18 months depending on the materials used and the time of year. Finished compost will appear at the bottom of the heap, remove this to use on your garden. Return any materials that haven't finished composting to the composter and keep adding new materials to keep the process going. Finished compost can be used almost anywhere on the garden (acid-loving plants don't like compost), using a fork simply dig it into the top six inches of soil, or spread it to cover the soil. You can also use your compost to feed your lawn or to top up tubs, planters and baskets.