Here’s a guest post to start off the new year early!
A quick and easy guide to composting
Are you worried about the thought of climate change and making sure you’re carbon neutral, whilst at the same time having to cut costs and make things last just that bit longer? Try not to worry too much as there are some great ideas that will not only help the environment but will also save you a few cents too, best of all they’re simple to do.
Today I’m going to give you some advice on composting. Firstly, for those who may be asking what is compost, it’s a soil like material that’s packed full of nutrients and vitamins. This makes it perfect for feeding your flowers or vegetables, hopefully leading to a bumper crop! You can buy compost at any plant centre; however,one of the by products of recycling your organic waste is compost, so why not try to make your own and save some money.
Here’s 7 steps showing you how to make compost:
Find a place for your composter. Make sure you think about where you’re going to make your compost, place it away from smelling distance of your house and where you stay in the garden.
Don’t put it too far away as you’ll be filling it up on a daily basis.
Choose a compost bin. There are a selection of compost bins that you can buy from any garden centre. There are a number of different features to look out for, the size being the most pivotal (choose a larger sized composter if you have a large family). Alternatively you can make your own but the quality may not be as good as if you’ve bought one.
Set your composter up. To kick off your composting you’ll need to amass a decent amount of waste first, combine it with some wood chippings or straw which will create air pockets (these provide oxygen to the bacteria that break down the organic matter). After you’ve established this base layer you’re good to go, all you need to do is add any other waste on top of the pile
Create a composting schedule. One tip is to leave a small organic waste bin in the house which you fill out through the day. Choose a certain time of the day to top up your composter with the contents of the bin. I prefer in the morning before work as you’ll have all the previous days waste inside.
careful what you put in. Don’t add any fish or meat inside and don’t put in dog or cat feces too. They don’t help and just make your bin smell horrible.
Harvest your compost. When you’ve almost filled your bin, open it up and look inside. The bottom layers should have decomposed and composted, take these out and try and mix up the rest of the detritus to help improve the composting process on what’s left.
Use it! Take your freshly harvested compost and use it on our veg patch or flowers. The compost you make yourself is sometimes even better than the stuff you can buy but without adding to your carbon footprint. If you have any spare compost left over, why not try to sell it on? Package small bags and leave it by your drive with an honesty box.
Vanessa Barlow works for Artscape Garden Design Surrey and she loves to make her own compost and use it in the garden.
