How to make compost

Learn how to make compost

We have to find out how to make compost, but in nature, dead plant material from one year is naturally composted over time by worms and other invertebrates, fungi and bacteria with no input from us.

The trick is how to facilitate and use this natural process for our own benefit to make good garden compost.

Watchout: It is all too easy to just make a pile of materials and hope that compost will magically appear, but sadly this approach often leads to that same pile being there next year!

What normally stops composting?

Not knowing how to make compost!

There are a whole bunch of reasons why composting is often poor;

too dry
too wet
too cold
too much woody material
lack of life
poor mixture
lack of air
lack of nitrogen

So it is important to learn more about making good compost.

Types of composting

Cold composting: No heat is achieved as materials are added gradually over time. The composting process will take 6-12 months or more.

Hot composting: Compost heats up as large amounts of material are built into a compost heap/ pile or the compost bin is filled in one go, moistened and turned regularly. The composting process may then only take a few months.

Right materials to make compost

Green (G) and Brown (B) materials should be mixed 50: 50

Kitchen vegetable waste (G), tea bags (B), coffee grounds (B), scrunched/ crumbled cardboard tubes (B), egg boxes (B), tissue paper (B), grass clippings (G), dead flowers(G/B), deciduous leaves (B) and yound hedge trimmings (G/B), annual weeds without seeds (G), farm yard manure (B), rabbit/ guinea pig/ hamster/ mouse bedding (saw dust/ straw) and manures (B) are a great source of nitrogen.

Plus if hot composting: annual weeds with seeds (G).

Materials to exclude from compost

Meat/fish waste (as it attracts pests), cat/ dog faeces (as they can spread disease), weeds with seeds (unless hot composting), perennial weeds (as they usually regrow), too much printed paper (as inks are toxic), diseased plants infected with: potato blight, viruses, powdery mildew, grey mould, foot rot, club root (as diseases often carry though the composting process infecting future crops).

Best composting tips

have two compost bins running in a cycle
ensure a good even 50:50 mix of 'green' and 'brown' materials
'prime' a new compost pile/ bin by adding some partially rotted compost rich in life
cover and water to keep the compost moist, but not wet
add an activator 'nitrogen source'
turn a few times during the composting process
take out compost as it is ready
keep on making free compost

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For more information on composting

For more on how to make compost

Learn the best ways for using compost.

To return to home of easy vegetable gardening