Garden Compost
Garden compost can be made from almost any kind of vegetable waste, such as lawn clippings, vegetable peelings, mulched garden prunings etc.
Meat and cooked foods should not be used unless the compost heap is well sealed from vermin.
Garden compost is useable once it has thoroughly broken down, having a dark crumbly appearance and 'sweet smell'.
The advantage of using compost is two-fold:
Making your own Compost This can be done in a heap or a specially designed bin.
Making compost can be likened to making a cake where the ingredients are as follows:
Once working effectively the process will generate heat, which subsequently facilitates the breakdown of organic matter and helps eliminate weed seeds, pests and diseases. To generate enough heat to do this the compost heap needs to be between 1 and 2 cubic meters. Compost reaches it maximum temperature in approximately two to three months.
Garden compost can be made from almost any kind of vegetable waste, such as lawn clippings, vegetable peelings, mulched garden prunings etc.
Meat and cooked foods should not be used unless the compost heap is well sealed from vermin.
Garden compost is useable once it has thoroughly broken down, having a dark crumbly appearance and 'sweet smell'.
The advantage of using compost is two-fold:
- Firstly, valuable nutrients in vegetative matter are recycled in the garden not removed from it.
- Secondly, as well as feeding the soil, compost acts as a natural mulch, conserving soil moisture and keeping the soil cooler in summer and warm in winter.
Making your own Compost This can be done in a heap or a specially designed bin.
Making compost can be likened to making a cake where the ingredients are as follows:
- Provide one part nitrogen-rich material (lawn clippings, vegetable peelings, manure).
- Mix this with the equivalent of two parts carbon-rich material (shredded newspaper, straw). Avoid plastics, glossy paper and treated timber sawdust.
- Provide oxygen by turning the pile. This aerates the mix and ensures that a more even breakdown occurs.
- Add water. The material should be neither too wet nor too dry. Ideally is should feel like a 'damp sponge'. If the materials are too wet then add shredded dry newspaper or sawdust.
- Check the pH. If the heap is too acidic the microorganisms will not work effectively. To correct this, mix in a small quantity of garden lime.
- Additional Nitrogen in the form of Blood and Bone, Urea, Chicken manure or proprietary 'Compost accelerator' may be added later to speed up the process.
Once working effectively the process will generate heat, which subsequently facilitates the breakdown of organic matter and helps eliminate weed seeds, pests and diseases. To generate enough heat to do this the compost heap needs to be between 1 and 2 cubic meters. Compost reaches it maximum temperature in approximately two to three months.