Composting

Composting is nature's way of recycling. Compost has four main ingredients:

1. Browns
2. Greens
3. Air
4. Water

Browns are dry, woody materials such as fallen leaves, hedge clippings, newspaper, and so on.

Greens are moist materials such as fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, and fresh weeds.

Air and water are the other essential ingredients that the millions of tiny composting creatures need to break down your browns and greens into a crumbly soil-like material.

Remember: Composting turns what could have been rubbish into a useful product!

What can I compost?

You can compost anything that was once alive...

• Lawn clippings
• Shredded stalks and hedge clippings
• Leaves
• Cut flowers
• Old plants
• Vegetable and fruit scraps
• Tea bags, leaves and coffee grounds
• Crushed egg shells
• Hay and straw
• Paper bags and cardboard (sparingly)
• Wood ash (sparingly)
• Young weeds
• Rhubarb leaves
• Bark
• Animal hair, fur and nails

But there are some things that are best left out of the bin...

• Diseased plants
• Anything sprayed with weed-killer
• Plastics, glass and other non-organic household waste
• Cooked food
• Meat and fish products
• Dairy products, oils or fats
• Bones
• Persistent weeds
• Coloured glossy paper and books
• Pet faeces
• Dog or cat litter
• Disposable nappies
• Soot and coal ash
• Wood
• Clothes and textiles

Where should I put my composter?

Compost can be kept in an open pile in the garden, or you may find it preferable to construct your own container (see below). However, specialised bins help keep piles neat and out of reach of children and pets, as well as helping to retain heat and moisture which speed up the composting process. Garden Centres and DIY stores offer a range of products, and bargains can be found on the Internet.

Your compost bin should be placed in a sunny position if possible, on bare soil or grass, so that the worms and moisture can get in and out.  It should be easy to get into your bin so that you are able to mix your compost and get it out.

How do I start composting?

Collect your fruit and vegetable scraps in your kitchen bin and every couple of days empty it into your compost bin. Then just keep adding a mixture of greens and browns to your compost bin and it should start composting.

Composting takes very little effort, but:

• You need a fifty-fifty balance of greens and browns as problems can occur when too much of one type of material is added.
• The composting creatures find it easier to break down little bits, so try to break up any large bits of twig, or whole fruit and vegetables so that they can get to work straight away. You can also store your kitchen scraps in your freezer to speed up decomposition, as your materials break down at the cell level when frozen.
• The composting creatures need water to survive, but not too much or they will drown. The ideal moisture level of your compost pile should be like that of a wrung out sponge. If it gets too dry, add more greens or sprinkle with water and if it gets too wet add more scrunched-up paper and give it a stir.
• The creatures that compost our waste need oxygen just like us. During Spring and Summer, they are more active and need a steady supply. To keep them happy, give the compost a stir with a garden fork every couple of weeks to put air into the compost.
• A bin should be between 3’ x 3’ x 3’ and 5’x 5’ x 5’.  A bin that is too small cannot retain enough heat. If the bin is too large, it won’t get enough air to the centre of the pile. It is also easier to manage two or three medium bins than one large one.

How do I know when my compost is ready to use?

Composting can take weeks or months and even up to a year depending on the materials you put in and how much air and moisture the compost receives. By turning the compost regularly to incorporate air you should make compost in 3-6 months. In winter it will take longer because cold weather slows the process down.

Finished compost is a dark brown, soil-like layer that you will find at the bottom of your compost bin. It might still contain some bits of materials that have not broken down such as twigs or eggshells, but these can be pulled out and added back to the bin. It may also look quite wet and not have a crumbly texture. If you want to dry it, spread it out in the sun for a few days after you have removed it from the bin.

Your compost bin has a small hatch at the bottom, which you can remove to get at the finished compost, but sometimes it is easier to lift the bin or tip it over to get at the compost and then put the non-decomposed material back into the bin.

Wormeries

• A tough plastic or glass container with a sealed lid, used with a special type of worm
• Good for people with small or no gardens
• Good for organic kitchen waste (e.g. vegetable peelings, tea leaves, coffee grounds, stale bread and hoover dust
• Produces a high quality compost and a concentrated. liquid feed.
• Buy a wormery - Get Composting (details and pricing on their website)

Build your own compost box

The following instructions describe how to make a wooden compost box (size: 75x75x75cm), consisting of identical interlocking sections, which are stacked one on top of the other. As the compost decreases in volume, the top sections of the box can be taken off and used to start building up a new container. Make a few extra sections and you will have a very flexible composting system. Keep the rain out with a wooden lid or square of old carpet or polythene.  

Materials and equipment needed:

To make ten sections of the box you will need:

• 30 m of wooden boards (e.g. reclaimed timber such as floorboards or pallets), approx 7.5cm wide and a minimum 1.5cm thick
• 2.2m of 5cm x 5cm timber
• 220 x 3.6cm long screws, size number 8
• Rulers, screwdrivers, drills (could use hand drills), and saws

Building each section of the box

1) Cut 2 boards, each 75cm long.

2) Cut 2 boards, each 72cm long.

3) Cut 4 lengths of 5.5cm from the 5cm x 5cm timber. These will make the corner blocks.

 

4) Take one of the 72cm shorter boards and place it on one of the corner blocks. The ends of the board should be flush with the block. The block should be offset so that it projects 2cm below the edge of the board (as shown in the diagram below).

5) Hold the board in position on the blocks. Drill 2 holes at one end of the board, through the board and into the block below. Fasten with 2 screws (see diagram below).

 6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 at the other end of the board (see diagram below).

7) Now repeat steps 4-6 with the second shorter (72cm) board. For the next stage you may need someone to help hold the pieces while you fix them together.

8) Stand the 2 shorter boards on their ends, approximately 75cm apart, with the protruding ends of the blocks away from you. Place a 75cm board on top of these vertical boards to form the third side of the section. Ensure that the ends of the longer board are flush with the edges of the vertical boards.

9) Drill and screw each end of the 75cm board, as in step 5 (see diagram below).

10) Turn the section over so that the unfinished side is uppermost. Place the second 75cm board across between the shorter boards as before. Position squarely and drill and screw as in step 9.

11) Continue making sections until you have as many as you want. You need to weatherproof any timber that has not been treated to make it last.