Compost - Enrich your garden & reduce waste.

I've decided to do my first post about compost, because everything that grows in your garden will benefit from good nutrient rich soil.

So what is composting?

Composting is a process that turns kitchen and garden waste into humus material called compost.

Here is some ideas for you:-

Green Materials are rich in Nitrogen
Ground Coffee & Filters
Organic packing material
Feathers
Flower bouquets
Fresh leaves
Fruit and vegetable scraps
Grass clippings - Make sure you put these in thin layers
Green plants
Animal manure, ie horses poultry rabbits, not cats and dogs poops.
Pruning and hedge trimmings
Tea bags

I choose not to put weeds or diseased plants in my main compost heap,I want to avoid reintrodicng seeds and any disease into my garden.
A good idea is to create a separate compost heap for these items.
In the majority of cases heat and time will destroy them, I just like to be on the safe side, I do enough weed pulling by hand as it is!

Did you know?? that seven pounds of hair contains as much nitrogen as 100 pounds of manure, if your going to add this into the mix, moist well and aerate.

Brown materials are rich in Carbon
Shredded newspaper
Dried flowers
Egg shells
Autumn leaves
Nutshells Old potting soil
Pine needles
Sawdust and wood shavings
Small twigs and wood chips
cereal, spices, beans
Straw and hay
Wood ashes.

A layer guide for your compost heap:-

Starting from the bottom up!

• Twigs or other coarse materials - this helps with drainage and aeration.
• Dried out brown materials, ie autumn leaves.
• Wet the above piles, so its just moist.
• Next add moist green materials, dig these into the pile with a thin layer of brown mater to balance,
• Add a small amount of garden soil-this introduces enough some friendly little organisms to decompose materials in your compost.
• Add more brown material, followed by more water.
• Just keep layering until you reach the top....yeah!
• After two weeks turn the pile and do so every few weeks, or when is becomes compacted,too wet or smelly.  Some people choose not to turn, but I do and it works for me, so do what works for you really.
• Compost is ready when it looks and feels like dirt.

Make sure all items are from organic sources and free from pesticides, this is hard to do I know, but try  your best, this will help you work your way to a totally organic garden, which will benefit you, your garden and the environment.

Happy Composting!!