In last week’s blog post, we showed you how to make your own compost bin at home. But what good is a compost bin without any compost? This week we’ll be walking you through hits and tips for creating your own brown gold! Soon you’ll have a ready supply of your own nutrient-dense fertiliser to use in your garden, vegetable patch, or containers. Read on to find out how to make compost at home.
Getting Started
After you’ve made – or bought – your compost bin, it’ll be time to make your compost.
- In the bottom of your compost bin, place a layer of bulky material. Twigs or straw are ideal.
- Then put a 6inch layer of garden waste – leaves, twigs, grass etc. If the material is dry, add water. Alternate layers of different materials – think of it as a compost lasagne (delicious!) and on top of each layer add a sprinkling of soil or manure
- Turn up the heat! You don’t need a stove, but compost does need it to be warm to start breaking down. To encourage heat you’ll need a certain critical mass of materials. A metre cubed is a rough guide to how much you’ll need.
- Cover it up! Cover the compost with a sheet, old carpet, polythene or tarpaulin. Leave it to break down for three months or so. After three months you’ll need to uncover it and turn it over to encourage decomposition. Really make sure it’s all been moved around for the best compost!
- If it’s brown, sweet smelling and crumbly, it’s ready to use.
What Can Go In Go In The Compost Bin?
Not everything can be composted. Here’s our quick guide to compost wins and compost sins.
Winners
- Uncooked vegetable and fruit offcuts and peelings
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Annual weeds
- Old bedding plants
- Dead leaves
- Lawn mowings
- Apple pomace (cider press waste)
- Beverages, kitchen rinse water (don’t over do it!)
- Cardboard
- Egg shells
- Flowers
- Hair
- Hay
- Manure from herbivores (cow, horse, pig, sheep, chicken, rabbit)
- Newspaper
- Sawdust and wood shavings
- Ashes (wood, not coal)
Sinners
- Ashes (coal or charcoal)
- Cat and dog droppings
- Coloured/glossy paper
- Meat, fat, grease, oils, bones
- Anything non-biodegradable or toxic
Compost Top Tips
Turn the pile once a week to encourage decomposition.
If the weather is hot and dry, add some water. It should be damp, but not dripping wet.
In autumn, break down your garden and put any parts of it that are not diseased back into the compost pile.
Final Thoughts
Making your own compost can be a total breeze. All you need is a bit of know-how about what can and can’t go in the heap, and a little patience. Soon enough you’ll be spreading that brown gold over your garden and reaping the rewards. Happy composting!
