Easy Steps to Composting
It is starting to become more apparent nowadays that we need to recycle as much as we will be able to, and anybody with a garden has a head start and can make a good contribution. To many novice gardeners, including myself, this subject can be slightly difficult to grasp; but in truth it is actually straightforward – there are just a few very simple rules:
You need a compost can, and the type you decide on rather depends upon the scale of your garden, but there are 2 options:
A purpose built plastic bin purchased from a gardener's center, not so costly; and you fill up from the top and 1 or 2 months later on you can take compost from a small opening at the base.
Or, if you can wield a saw and some nails, you can make a wooden slatted enclosure, one metre square – or you can buy them ready-made – and cover it with a chunk of old carpet to keep the very worst of the weather off.
What you can compost:
- All raw plant and fruit peelings
- Teabags, tea leaves and coffee grounds
- Egg shells
- Dead flowers from the house
- And from the garden, soft pruning
- spent bedding plants, dead leaves, grass mowing
- spent compost from hanging baskets or containers
- Some dryer materials such as shredded paper
- Rabbit and guinea pig bedding.
The single thing you have to be careful about is to mix differing types of material; if you have too many grass clippings in a large mass, they're going to turn damp and slimy, or if there's too much paper and prunings, it will be too dry. So keep an eye on it, particularly if you're using the wooden enclosure, and mix it with a fork on occasion.
What NOT to compost:
- All meat products and bones; bread, cooked food – these will attract vermin
- Dog or kitty waste
- Woody material – which takes too long to compost
- Weeds – these can ‘infect ‘ your compost with their seeds
- Anything that's non-biodegradable.
And as you will not always feel a bit like taking a visit to the compost heap when it’s wet or cold or each time you peel vegetables why not keep a lidded container by the back door which you can fill up and then make the trip to the compost can each one or two days?
Over a time period – 3 months to 1 year, depending on conditions – all this matter will have broken down into lovely dark brown crumbly compost, which you can fork into your beds and borders. It makes a superb soil conditioner and can be employed as surface mulch, helping preserve moisture and discourage weeds.
You can also convert fallen leaves into excellent compost. Rake up any leaves from your lawn – you may have to do this many times over the autumn – and collect them from the borders. Put them all into a black waste sack, sprinkle with water, put one or two holes around the sack with a fork, tie the top, and leave it in a corner for roughly a year. What you finish up with is sometimes known as leaf-mould.
Are you looking out for more info like this? Composting Project.
Hilda Lane is a writer with an interest in a wide variety of topics. Read about Waste Recycling You can visit her site for useful tips. Discover more about Proper Waste Disposal