Excitement was in the garden this week; we peered into our compost bin to find it full of lovely compost ready for the vegetable patch. Wonderful! My children think I’ve gone a little mad, I used to get excited by the latest shoes…!!

Great gardens start with good quality soil. No plant, however healthy when planted, will produce good, strong growth in poor soil. Compost and organic matter conditions the soil breaking down particles to produce dark, crumbly soil full of goodness. Remember compost does not feed plants it provides a base for strong root structure. There are different products for feeding plants some of which you can make yourself.

Recyclable waste becomes a useable, valuable product for your garden whilst reducing the amount of food waste in landfill sites.

It’s easy to do; just a little patience is required.

The First Step, choose a Compost Bin.

You’re able to buy various compost bins from either your local council or your garden center. Typically they are made of plastic with a lid and trap door at the bottom for releasing the compost. These are fine but can be expensive and in my experience, not necessarily easy to use; the trap door is never large enough for removing the end product. You can make an effective , efficent one yourself; or recycle, my old rabbit run has made a fine contained compost heap. By far the easiest way is to use stakes in the ground with chicken wire wrapped around, it’s beneficial to cover the top with an old rug, jute is ideal. Old palettes with stakes driven through the middle and into the ground also work well. Because neither of these are totally enclosed be careful of rodents invading, sink the chicken wire under the ground for extra protection. For a larger garden build a more stable, secure structure from planks of wood with a removable lid. It’s ideal to have three, one that’s filling, one that’s ‘cooking’ and one to use.

Where to place your Compost Bin?

A warm place, easy to access – a long walk with your vegetable peelings on a dark winter’s night isn’t ideal! The bin needs to be placed directly on the ground to allow worms to find their way in and start their work breaking down waste to make compost.

What to put in your Compost Bin

You’ve made your ‘bin’, sited it well and now need to start filling it, but what can you put in?

Generally all kitchen waste can go in apart from meat and bones. That includes peelings, old vegetables (cooked or raw) and fruit, ground coffee, stale bread, egg shells (remove inside skin so they break down quicker), tea bags (split first), stale cheese, the list is endless. Other household waste includes paper, newspaper (scrunched) and soft card (shredded) – egg boxes are ideal. Old rabbit, hamster and guinea pig bedding is also ideal. Garden waste, lawn clippings, non perennial weeds, nettles, pruning waste cut up into small cuttings can be added too.

What not to put in to your Compost Bin

Meat and bones. Dog or cat excrement. Perennial weeds put those in and you’ll spread them all over your garden.

Ideally layer the food waste, paper and garden waste equally. This is not something to get too bogged down with, as long as you have a good mix of all three you’ll make great compost.

A little patience is now required, mine took about nine months to produce its first compost, but it’s a great feeling when you finally get that first wheelbarrow load.

A Traditional Compost Bin is not the only way of Producing Compost.

Leaf Mould

Leaf Mould makes a great soil conditioner full of micro organisms that will help break down the soil. It can be used as mulch around vegetables, shrubs, trees and herbaceous plants. Stakes in the ground covered in chicken wire is all you need to do to contain autumn leaves, put them in, add a sprinkle of water if dry, and leave them – easy! Leaves collected using an electric hoover are shredded speeding up the composting process, alternatively for the same effect mow over the leaves with a lawn mower before adding them to the compost bin. Leaves break down slowly; it may take upto two years. You’ll know when it’s ready it looks dark and feels soft crumbling easily through your fingers. Excellent!

If you are short of room, put leaves into black plastic bags, damp down, tie bags loosely and puncture some holes into the bag. Store in a cool place until cooked!

A word of warning when collecting leaves, large drifts could be home to hibernating creatures.

Perennial Weeds.

Perennial weeds can be composted but should be put in a separate, completely sealed bin placed on a hard surface complete with a tight fitting lid. They do take a long time to break down but produce their own great compost.

It’s time…

… time to compost, reduce the huge amounts of food waste in our landfill sites and make good compost to enhance our gardens soil structure and create strong healthy plants and vegetables for all to enjoy. Go on… you’ll be glad you did!!