Get Involved, Making your own compost.
Posted by Grow - on May 04 2010 @ 18:34
Making your own compost
This is not only good for your garden, it also cuts down on your kitchen food waste. Compost is usually made in a compost bin. But you can make your own using old pallets or chicken wire. Remember that compost bins work better if they are set directly onto the soil, this means the worms can get access to the fresh garden waste and start breaking it down.
Remember to seperate your grass clippings and leaves from your garden and kitchen waste. Ideally, if you have the space make seperate areas for them to break down.
Tips to getting lovely rich dark garden compost :
-Add a variety of waste, from kitchen peelings, garden clippings, even small twigs to encorage air circulation.
-Cardboard and paper can also be added.The secret is adding roughly the same amount of everything!
-Mix your compost regularly, if you have the space, build two pallet compost boxes side by side, this will allow you to shovel compost from one to the other.
-If your feeling that your compost isn't developing as quickly as you would like, you can add a liquid compost maker. This will speed up the process.
Do compost: Don't compost:
-Grass mowing, though not in bulk -Cooked food
-Weeds (not weeds with seed heads) -Meat & fish scraps
-Fruit & vegetable scraps -Used cat litter
-Tea bags & coffee ground -Coal & ash remains
-Old flower & bedding plants -Disposable nappies
-Vegetable plant remains -Potato peelings, as these will grow!
-Autumn leaves, though not in bulk
-Shredded woody prunnings
-Cardboard & egg boxes
-Twigs & garden prunnings
Composting ingredients will shrink as they decay so you may be able to to continue adding material and removing it without the bin ever getting full.If it does fill up, just leave the materials in it to decay, and start another heap.