Some of the basics of composting, with common questions answered.
One of the reasons many people are reluctant to compost is the concern about insect invasions, whether that is in a small kitchen compost bin or a larger outdoor bin. And as anyone who has ever had an outdoor picnic knows: where there is food, you will find ants. Ants come quickly to a food …
After months or even years, your home made compost is ready. It’s matured, darkened and gained a fresh earthy smell. Now it’s time to use it – and what a lot of uses there are for it! In fact, the many uses of compost all around the garden mean that even the keenest of gardeners …
My local council has a free compost scheme. The food and garden waste they collect from households is turned into huge quantities of compost. A portion of this is taken to one collection point, and anyone can come and help themselves. When you arrive at the collection point, the compost is often still hot. Sometimes …
If you’re just starting to get into composting, chances are you’re wondering what you can compost. Here’s a quick answer – if it’s been recently alive, you can probably compost it. In fact, we’re surrounded by materials. You’ll find materials in your garden, home or office. If you run out of materials there, a trip …
In the summer I can haul several wheelbarrows of weeds in a day to my compost heap, rapidly building up its size. But things are very different in the garden in winter. Having just come back from a pleasurable hour in the garden, I’ve only managed to pull up a small bucketful of weeds and …
The process of making compost can take anything from a couple of weeks to several years – it all depends on which composting process you use, and how much work you put into it. Let’s dig into the details… Compost in two weeks One of the fastest ways to make compost is to use the …
A cold compost heap can take months or even years to reach perfection. The good news is that you don’t have to wait that long. In fact one composting system produces finished compost in just 14-21 days. (You’d ideally let it mature for a while before using it for the first time!) If you’re as …
My first compost pile wasn’t great. A corner of my garden behind my garage had three walls around it, and I simply dumped my garden waste there. I didn’t pay much attention to the intricacies of composting, but when I dug down after two years I got compost. You see while you can dig deep …
You can minimise or eliminate the smell of indoor compost bins, if you take the right steps. Fortunately, it’s not hard to produce indoor compost without stinking your kitchen out. In this article we’ll cover everything you need to stop your compost from becoming smelly. I’ll be honest, I’m not allowed to compost in the …
We drink a lot of tea. The British drink 36 billion cups of tea a year, while in 2018 the US consumed 84 billion cups. That’s a lot! So it makes sense to do something useful with them – something like composting. After all, a single teabag might not make much compost, but a year’s …