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| Lovely, rich and healthy homemade compost |
I've mentioned my garden in some posts
recently. My garden isn't just somewhere to sit when the sun does
make an appearance or a space to look at and admire. It's home to the
blackbirds who have made a nest for the last couple of years and
raised two young families. There are other small birds flying in and
out. I've just seen a dunnock hopping in and out of the strawberry
patch. The bees are loving the aquilegia; gathering pollen before
flying off to another flower. The aphids on the flowering currant are
simply the next meal for the ladybirds. All this seems to carry on
without much intervention from me but one thing I do to help the
garden out is to feed it with compost and the best kind is the stuff
you can make yourself.
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| A happy garden is one that is inviting to wildlife. Love those bees! |
Making your own compost isn't just
about cost and knowing what you put in in will benefit what comes out
as soil. It's about reconnecting with the land around us – even if
like mine your garden is a small suburban plot. A recent survey by
the British Nutrition Foundation revealed that a third of primary
school children thought cheese came from a plant. Do we really want
our kids to think that everything we eat is processed and not know
the delight of eating a home-grown strawberry?
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| Just a few weeks before we can enjoy the fruits of our labours |
With so councils now only collecting
household bins fortnightly saving as much waste from going in your
bin has both practical and environmental consequences. Around 30% of
the waste we generate is compostable. If we compost this at home we
can make rich and healthy soil for our gardens. If it goes to
landfill the air cannot get to it as it gets trapped under the other
rubbish. When the waste finally breaks without the vital oxygen it
releases methane instead. This is classed as one of the harmful
greenhouse gases.
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| So much of our everyday rubbish can be composted |
Making your own compost helps to feed
the vital soil-living creatures and microbes. Once added to the
existing soil these break down into nutrients that the plants can
absorb. For some great tips on how to improve your soil quality even
more head over to the Westland Garden Health site.
If you cook, eat fruit and vegetables,
drink tea and coffee, mow a lawn, have dead leaves and shred paper
you can make your own compost. The most important rules about
composting are what you can and can't put in:
Things to compost
Lawn clippings
Vegetable and fruit peelings
Tea leaves and coffee grounds
Egg shells
Cardboard egg boxes
Shredded paper
Chopped or shredded prunings
Hair or fur
Vacuum dust from woollen carpets
Straw and hay
Leaves
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| Don't send it to landfill - compost it! |
Things to avoid
Weeds – in a small home garden
composter the temperature may not get high enough to kill off the
weed seeds. You'll just be putting weeds into your soil! Take to your
council recycling unit as their composters are huge and deal with
weeds.
Anything diseased - Likewise for the
weeds. You want to put healthy stuff in to get healthy stuff out.
Excrement – human or animal! Don't be
tempted to put dog poo in. Bag it and bin it. It's not nice and even
worse when heated up in a home composter.
Paper hankies – They may seem
harmless enough but a hankie full of snot has not a place in a
composter.
Disposable nappies – Even without the
wee and poo in them disposable nappies take forever to break down in
landfill and are never going to shift in a composter.
Meat, raw or cooked – If you want to
attract the local rat population into your garden put some in,
otherwise steer clear of meat and the vermin will stay away too.
Brightly coloured or shiny paper and
card – They may look pretty but the chemicals in the inks are hard
to break down and not good for making healthy soil.
Big branches or thick twigs – The
bigger the bit of tree you have the longer it will take to break
down. Either use a garden shredder or cut into small pieces.
Alternatively make a pile of them in the garden and let them rot down
naturally. The local beetles will benefit from this. If you can't do
either take it to the council tip.
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| Too big to go in the composter. Either chop it up or take to the council recycling unit |
If you don't want to go down to the
composter every time you eat an apple to put the core in get an old
ice cream or margarine tub to store in the kitchen. The lid helps to
keep the smells in. Alternatively splash out on a purpose designed
kitchen compost bin to fit in with your décor.
Once you've got the stuff to put in
your composter here are some general tips:
Put the composter straight onto the
soil rather than concrete or a paving slab. Worms and other little
helpers will be able to get in and start to 'digest' the contents to
help it along.
Make sure it has a tight fitting lid as
wind, rain and snow are no friends of the compost maker.
Try to place your composter in
sunlight. - The heat will speed up the process and help to break down
the contents quicker.
It's often advised to turn the contents
of your compost bin. I don't as it's quite small and makes it
difficult. To help aerate it I put in scrunched up newspaper which
creates air pockets. This will compost as well.
Layer, layer, layer – If you just put
in vegetable peelings all you will end up with is a slimy mess. Try
to alternate between dry and wet materials. Combine dry clippings
like prunings with moister ones like grass clippings.
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| A tight fitting lid helps keep the heat in and elements out |
You'll know when the compost is ready
when it starts to smell earthy rather than have a rotting one. It
will look like proper soil and not just a collection of old waste.
So don't throw that apple core in the
bin, compost it today and within months you could be using your own
soil to help grow some delicious produce of your own.
This is a sponsored post on behalf
of Westland Horticulture.
The thoughts and views are my own. Photographs used with permission
as credited.
