The process of how compost is made – and how it benefits soil and plants – is fascinating. It’s also useful, as an awareness can help you create faster compost, better soil and healthy, luxurious plants.
If you’re new to the science of composting, we suggest starting with The Science of Compost – How Compost Happens!
This year something changed in my sweetcorn patch. The plants were taller, stronger, greener – and twice the size of those in our community garden down the road. And the harvest was superbly sweet and succulent as we ate it, freshly barbecued, dripping with butter. It was also the first time I’d successfully grown beans
My Sweetcorn Was Twice the Size of My Neighbours’. Was It the Beans? Read More »
How do electric composters work? Inside the microbiology, the one independent study of the output, and what manufacturers will not claim about maturity.
How Do Electric Composters Work, and Is the Output Compost? Read More »
You’ve probably been told to keep cooking oil out of compost – probably because of the fear that it will clog up the compost, stop oxygen from reaching compost material and/or attract pests. But a while back I came across a study that suggested it could be beneficial in multiple ways. Japanese researchers found that
The New Cooking Oil & Biochar Composting Hack Read More »
There is a Douglas fir on Haida Gwaii that is several hundred years old. Its roots go into soil that has never seen the ocean. Yet when scientists analysed its growth rings, they found that up to 80% of its nitrogen came from the Pacific. And it’s all down to fish. Pacific salmon begin their
The Fish That Built the Forest Read More »
Every morning, Gill Thomas collects dog poop bags from the bins outside her local park and takes them home. It didn’t begin this way. In spring 2025, a resident flagged what Thomas describes as a “grot spot” – hundreds of littered dog waste bags dumped along a rural lane beside a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature
Can You Compost Dog Poop? One Councillor’s 750-Bag Experiment Read More »
As you may already know, biochar in compost has major benefits. We’ve written about it in depth before, but in short these benefits include: What we haven’t known until now is when to add it! However, a recent study has tested two different timings, leaving us with clear guidance as to the best time to
Study Reveals When to Add Biochar for Faster, Better Compost Read More »
If you’ve made compost from materials outside your garden, and nothing has grown in it, the problem could well be due to a hidden herbicide. While most traditional herbicides do break down in compost, there’s a new breed of herbicide which is far slower to do so. Contaminated manure has caused headaches across the world,
Herbicide Contamination in Compost: Risks, Research, Solutions Read More »
If you’ve spoken to worm farm enthusiasts, you’ve probably heard them wax lyrical about the impact of vermicompost on plant growth. Maybe you even suspected they just needed a reason in order to indulge what is, after all, a rather strange hobby. Turns out, though, that the research backs them up. One such study discovered
Scientists Report: Vermicompost Grows Plants 38% Taller Read More »
If your compost doesn’t get hot, don’t despair! A new study suggests that longer, cooler composting periods can create compost as good as compost produced at full heat levels. That said, there are several things you need to be aware of to achieve quality. The good thing is none of them require much extra effort.
Compost Slow? Science Says It Doesn’t Matter! Read More »
Even in my relatively mild climate, winter temperatures occasionally dip as low as -7°C (19°F), and the surface of compost can freeze. While it’s not a frequent occurrence here, I know many composters live in much colder regions and wonder what happens when their compost piles freeze over. Fortunately, even when your compost seems to
Frozen Compost? Don’t Panic—Here’s What’s Happening Inside Read More »