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Down and dirty...with compost

This will be brief, I'll keep it simple!

You need a bottomless plastic compost bin and if you are a really keen gardener then you need two. You can buy these second hand on gumtree or ebay or fb marketplace or your local recycle centre/tip, anything from £10 to £25.

(You can build one from pallets but I don't recommend it for two reasons, it will rot and it's more accessible to rats. (Since 1998 being in our garden we have seen one rat by the two bins). If you have a very large garden , acre plus, then that would be a very different blog.


Top tip - You do not need one with a small door at the bottom, in fact actively avoid those.

These doors are a pain because the door bulges out with the weight of the contents and it simply has never been used. Hence they are produce without these small doors.


I judge when the bin has good stuff at the bottom (about 6 months) ready for spreading and I use my weight to tip it over and scoop from the bottom, simple as that.


Where to put it?

  • A flat surface on soil

  • Make it easy access for you

  • Give it space - The bin will be leant right over and then be able to be shoveled from the bottom into bags or buckets.

The woman is not for turning!

I don't turn compost, that's physically impossible and not needed.

(You are messing up the active ecosystem inside the bin).

(A bit like a no dig garden - let the organisms and creatures do what they do - with no human interference)

🐝

From the house

  • PEELINGS - fruit and veg or rotten unused bits

  • EGG - broken up egg shells

  • TISSUES/ ROLLS - loo and kitchen rolls and tissue or shredded paper

  • TEA BAGS - look for the words 'home compostable'

  • COFFEE GROUNDS - from your home not from coffee shops, that would be too much

From the garden

  • GARDEN MATERIAL - some greenery no perennial weeds or perennial weed seeds

  • TWIGS/PRUNINGS - small, no bigger than 1cm prunings (this creates coarse compost which is superb for gradual improvement of soil structure)

  • DETRITIVORE - (eaters of dead material) species of worm, slug, beetle, centipede, millipede and so on then do their magical work!

So if I haven't mentioned it don't put it in. It goes without saying no material that may have chemicals on. I imagine if you read anything I post you are organic gardeners anyway, thankfully everyone is these days! 💚


Keep it easy for you.

Have a lidded bin in the kitchen.

With just the two of us it gets emptied when it's full (once a fortnight) unless we've had a full house!


It is incredible what you can put in the compost bin and how it turns into black gold while all you do is fill it!

In early spring I lean it over, and half empty from the bottom with a spade and it goes straight onto the garden. No digging it in, just spreading it around and about where I think it needs a mulch. (mulch - layer layer of material on a surface)


As I shovel it out I always find labels from bananas, the odd elastic band, a pen or whatever, pop those bits it in a small pot you don't want that on the garden!


It's fun seeing what's ended up in the kitchen compost bin!










I still marvel at the magical transformation.


A Weeksie Warning : Composting can become addictive.











It is a no brainer, no matter how big or small your patch. You are adding all that black gold full of nutrients, keeping your patch on top form and more able to cope with drought from climate change whilst crucially supporting the wildlife in your beloved garden.

After all we can't expect our garden to do it's thing if we don't feed it.

What's the worst that can happen?


So I recommend getting down and dirty, but has Louise always says wear gloves and always wash your hands thoroughly after!


Happy composting!


Pauline


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