It is becoming more and more obvious these days that we need to recycle as much as we can, and anyone with a garden has a head start and can make a great contribution.
Composting your kitchen and garden waste is a great way to reduce the amount of waste you dispose of in your rubbish bin. By composting your waste you can generate a free source of rich compost to help improve your garden, and also help to reduce global warming in the process.
When sent to landfill organic waste is compressed under tonnes and tonnes of other waste types. The organic waste therefore does not have enough access to air, which restricts the waste from being able to decompose properly. Instead of decomposing, methane gas is produced which contributes to global warming.
To many novice gardeners this subject can be somewhat difficult to grasp; but in fact it is really straightforward.
The first step to start composting at home is to get a compost bin.
You can either purchase a compost bin or you can make your own.
If you know how to wield a saw and some nails, you can make a wooden slatted enclosure, one metre square, or you buy them readymade and cover it with a piece of old carpet to keep the worst of the weather off.
The next important step is to decide where to position the compost bin, which can affect the overall quality of the compost that is produced. For best results place the bin in a well drained area which has good access to sunlight. The drainage will enable excess water to drain out of the compost and placing the bin in a sunny spot helps to speed up the composting process.
What waste items can be put in the compost bin?
There are lots of everyday waste items from your garden and kitchen that can go into your compost bin. These are broken down into “Greens” and “Browns”.
Greens are the type of items that provide moisture and nitrogen and are quick to rot.
Items classed as Greens includes:
- All uncooked vegetable and fruit peelings
- Tea bags, tea leaves and coffee grounds
- Dead flowers from the house
- Spent bedding plants, dead leaves, lawn mowing
- Spent compost from hanging baskets or containers
- Rabbit and guinea pig bedding
Browns are waste items that take longer to rot but provide pockets of air, along with fibre and carbon.
This includes items such as:
- Cardboard boxes
- Scrunched up Newspapers
- Toilet roll tubes
- Crushed egg shells
- Shredded paper
- Twigs and hedge clippings
- Soft pruning from the garden
To make good quality compost it is important to use a good mix of both “Greens” and “Browns”. If you have too many grass clippings in a big mass, they will turn soggy and slimy, or if there is too much paper and pruning, it will be too dry. It is simply a case of monitoring the compost and adding more waste depending on the look of the compost. For example, if it looks too dry add more ‘green’ waste, and if it looks too wet add more ‘brown’ waste. Every so often it is also a good idea to mix or turn the contents of your compost bin with a fork to add air.
Avoid putting meat products and bones, bread and cooked food into your compost bin, because these will attract vermin. Woody material will take too long to compost. Weeds can infect your compost with their seeds.
And because you won’t always feel like taking a trip to the compost heap when it’s wet or cold or every time you peel vegetables why not keep a lidded container by the back door which you can fill up and then make the trip to the compost bin every one or two days?
How long will it take for the compost to be ready to use?
Over a period of time – 3 months to one year, depending on conditions, all this matter will have broken down into lovely dark brown crumbly compost, which you can fork into your beds and borders. It makes an excellent soil conditioner and ban be used as surface mulch, helping conserve moisture and discourage weeds.
You can also convert fallen leaves into wonderful compost. Rake up any leaves from your lawn – you may have to do this several times over the autumn – and collect them from the borders. Put them all into a black waste sack, sprinkle with water, put a few holes around the sack with a fork, tie the top, and leave it in a corner for about a year. What you end up with is known as leaf-mould.
You will find everything for gardeners and home owners in “Garden Lover’s Paradise” at
Enjoy your visit there!
No comments:
Post a Comment