The strangely fascinating world of making compost

I don’t know why, I find making home made compost strangely fascinating.   It’s one of those unexpectedly rewarding things you can do in a home and garden.  First glance it appears simple but there’s just a little more to it.

We have been making our compost for many years, using two bins supplied by the blummin Council.  After a few false starts, I have perfected the process and it is such a rewarding thing to do.

Sometimes you can see the worms wriggling around, plus there are all kinds of other organisms working hard to break everything down into lovely compost.  When the weather is warm and you add fresh material, the heap can get really hot – sometimes you can see steam!  That’s when you know it is working really well.

The benefits?

• brilliant recycling of organic kitchen waste, used coffee grinds etc
• home made compost is so good as a soil improver and fertiliser; you can lightly dig it into you flower beds or use it as a mulch around trees and shrubs
• in the height of the growing season, or when the leaves are falling in the autumn, you might find your green wheelie bin isn’t big enough!
• there’s something so satisfying about producing your own natural, organic compost

What goes into the compost?

The key is to get the right mixture of things.

• grass cuttings (we always avoid using grass cuttings where we have recently used ‘weed & feed’ treatments)
• shrub prunings
• twigs, thin woody stems (best cut into smaller pieces)
• dead flowers
• Used ground coffee, plus filter papers (unbleached if possible)
• tea bags
• vegetable peelings
• banana skins, apple cores, orange peel etc
• you can save money and the effort of buying ready made compost

Top tips

• we find a shady, sheltered corner of the garden works best
• having two (or more) bins is ideal for a medium-large garden
• once the first bin is full, it needs 9-12 months to rot down so having two bins makes sense.  If you have included waxy leaves or woody stems and twigs, it will take longer
• when starting off a new compost heap, mix in a spade full of garden soil.  This helps provide the some micro organisms to help get the composting process started
• add a few worms if you can, once the compost heap is becoming established
• try to get a good mixture of green and twiggy, brown material
• avoid including perennial weeds – we put these in the green wheelie bin
• add a little water if it’s feeling too dry but don’t let it become slimy
• keep a fork handy to turn it over once a week and to mix in new material