In my previous article “How to Be Organic In The Home Garden” I spoke to affordability and savings as a result of being organic or eco-friendly, and wrote of the prudence of using mulch.
The corollary to good mulching is to also become an avid composter.
Yes, I know it can be a pain in the butt to get into the habit of assiduously keeping aside all your organic waste from the house and garden and then building it up in a compost heap or compost bin.
However, once it is a habit, it really is easy to do. It just takes time, patience and commitment. You notice I used the word ‘avid’ above – being half hearted will not really be tremendously effective. All or nothing is a good motto.
And the benefits are multi-fold.
You Achieve
- Food for the plants
- Fertiliser for the soil
- Reduced waste in landfills
- Materials to improve your soil
- Savings
- You become eco-friendly and reduce your own carbon footprint
- Save fossil fuels – you are not buying therefore less transport using fuels
The result of composting your garden is an earthy, dark, crumbly soil that is excellent for all plants due to the enriching provided by the decomposed materials.
Composting is a simple process that you can make as sophisticated as you like.
Basic composting requires minimal effort. You can choose a bin or a bin-less system.
Any mix of dead plants materials such as straw, autumn leaves, woodchips and sawdust (browns) – with “greens’ such as green weeds from the garden, kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps, green leaves, coffee grounds and tea bags, fresh horse manure, etc are suitable compost.
While hotter piles of compost do decompose somewhat faster, a temperature of about 50F is sufficient, provided aeration and the mix is correct.
Size does matter! The compost pile needs to be at least a cubic yard (3 foot high and wide) to heat up and stay hot for a long period of time.
When finished the compost will be dark in color and has an earthy smell (like the smell of soil). Although bits of hard-to-decompose materials (such as sticks) will still be evident they will finish decomposition in the garden bed.
What to Compost
- Grass and lawn clippings –layer thinly with drier compost in between
- Hay – alfalfa composts very quickly. Grass hay may contain lots of seeds which can re-sprout. (moisten first.)
- Kitchen wastes – Fruit and vegetable peels/rinds, tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells, and similar materials are great stuff to compost. Avoid composting meat scraps, fatty food wastes, milk products, and bones — these materials are very attractive to pests.
- Leaves – like lawn clippings – layer thinly.
- Straw – will help keep the compost aerated
- Weeds – can be used but avoid those that have begun to go to seed.
- Woodchips and sawdust – - although these can be used straight onto the soil as mulch, they can also be used in the compost pile. Don’t use chemically treated wood.
What Not To Compost
- Chemically treated woods
- Diseased plants – composting heat may kill disease organisms – but you can’t be sure all of it will die.
- Poo – from humans and pets
- Meat, bones, fatty food wastes
- Pernicious weeds – unless they are completely dead and not gone to seed.
Chucking in some manure will also help the decomposition and quality of the compost as a fertiliser.
Specifically targeting legumes (clover, lupins) as apart of your compost and mulch is also beneficial for pest control.
