Home composting is a win-win activity. Not only is it a sustainable way of disposing of kitchen food scraps and garden waste, it also happens to make top-notch compost that your plants will love.
You do not need a massive garden to get into composting — even small gardens and balconies work!
If you're not sure quite where to begin, we've created a helpful beginner's guide to composting for getting started.
What time of year can I compost?
All year round! Composting is a year-round activity. According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), late summer to early winter is peak compost-making time.
You'll get a thriving compost pile in six months (at the very most) even in winter months.
How to pick a good place to compost?
Picking the perfect spot for your composting site is really important. Ideally, it's best not to position your compost heap or container somewhere that's subject to a lot of changes in temperature and moisture. This is because the micro-organisms that turn the waste into compost prefer constant conditions.
It's best to choose a site that's partially shaded to prevent it from drying out on sunny days or getting saturated in wet weather. Placing your heap or bin directly onto soil is also advisable.
It might be tempting to place your heap or bin on paving slabs but since it’s essential that the contents are accessible to worms, insects, and soil-dwelling microbes who do the work of decomposing your kitchen scraps, you’ll get far better results placing it directly onto the soil.
What type of composting bin should you use?
Composting containers come in all shapes and sizes, from repurposed wooden palettes to compact plastic bins. It's best to aim for bins with one cubic meter capacity or more. "Smaller bins work less well than larger ones. Two bins one rotting, the other being filled is ideal.
Short on space?
If you don't have loads of room in your garden, that's not a problem. The simplest type of compost container is a small cardboard box. Fill it up with all your fruit and veg kitchen waste, and when it's full, plunge the box and its contents into the soil and leave it to decompose. Leave it there until it's fully decomposed. When it's fully composted, you can dig it up and use it around your garden. Try to make sure the kitchen waste is sufficiently buried to deter any rodents!
If you have cardboard packing you need to get rid of, this could be a good solution for you. Make sure you remove any packaging stickers, plastic tape, or anything that's not biodegradable. Plus, you don't have to worry about the expense of buying a compost container. Furthermore, your garden soil is enriched with carbon from the cardboard and nitrogen-based material from the kitchen waste, two essential ingredients for healthy plant growth.
Getting the balance just right
Getting the right balance of soft green materials to woody brown material is key in getting the bacteria and micro-organisms to do their job.
"Blending moist soft material such as vegetable waste, lawn mowings, and weeds with drier strawy material such as spent flower stems and fallen leaves in about 50:50 mix greatly enhances the speed of composting.
Try to get between 25 and 50 percent soft green organic matter — vegetable kitchen waste, grass clippings, weeds. The rest of your compost heap should be comprised of brown waste, woody material like paper, cardboard, dead leaves, and pruned yard waste. Try not to let one material dominate the heap. Too many grass clippings could make your compost really slimy and, let's face it, no one wants slimy compost.
Turn it up
Want to speed up your compost's rotting? Mix or turn the contents of your heap or bin. This usually involves tipping the bin contents out and refilling the bin. A long-handled fork lightens the labor.
Added bonus: Turning it makes your compost better.
When will it be ready?
It'll take between six months and two years to get mature compost. You'll know it's mature from its color and texture: dark brown with a crumbly soil-like texture and a smell resembling damp woodland.
Common composting problems with easy solutions
Has your bin gone dry and moldy? It is recommended to add water or lawn mowing.
Too slimy? It is recommended to add more browns.
Too dry? Add more greens.
Flies? Make sure you cover your kitchen waste with garden waste to ensure moisture levels aren't too high.
To speed things up, break ingredients into small pieces, adding moisture, turning the heap regularly, and adding in extra worms or compost activators.
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