Today, most of our household rubbish is burnt, including all organic material. In this way we allow the earth's resources to go up in smoke. Turning this waste into compost benefits your garden and the environment.
We are living in a climate of growing concern for the environment, yet it seems a shame that heaps of useful household rubbish are sent away to be burnt - rubbish that anyone could easily convert into a valuable resource.
Much of what we take from nature can be given back, and every gardener has the opportunity to transform natural waste substances into the finest garden humus.
Help from insects and worms
It is important to create the best possible conditions for the creatures and micro-organisms in the ground essential for good composting. You need not have a large compost heap if you are short of space in your garden: a compost bin made from wire netting, plastic or wood works just as well.
A compost bin always looks neat, but for it to produce the best compost possible, you must take care not to throw too much rubbish into it without a little forward planning.
Like a compost heap, the contents of a compost bin must also be built up in layers of materials - such as dried leaves, grass cuttings, potato peelings and twigs to create a flow of air that ensures the material will compost properly and not simply rot.
Follow a layer of grass cuttings with a thin layer of soil: this supplies the compost with oxygen and carbon dioxide. When you add soil or manure you also ensure that the compost receives the right bacteria to aid the breakdown. In the same way, adding a little coarser material can help make the mixture more open in texture and aids the exchange of gases.
Compost needs air
Any spacious container is suitable for use as a compost bin, but it must allow air to circulate: the contents of a closed container will end up resembling liquid manure more than compost. There are several models available commercially - ranging from the cheap to the more expensive. Containers may be closed (base, side walls, and lid), open-based (side walls with holes or slits, lid) or completely open (with wire mesh walls, for example). .All these types are sold in different materials and models.
You can make your own compost bin rather than buying one, but it is important to consider the design before you start. Compost in a tall, narrow bin will dry out more readily than that in a large, wide one. Placing a container on a plinth will slow down the composting process. If the container takes up an area of one square metre, it can store material up to a metre in height.
During dry periods, or when the contents consist mostly of dry matter, the compost needs watering. During prolonged wet spells, the surplus water can drain away, as long as the bin does not have a .watertight base. An open base to the container also helps micro-organisms, worms and insects to reach the composting material.
Using several containers
If your compost bin turns out to be too small, it is best to acquire another container rather than trying to extend the old one.
A compost bin usually becomes filled with grass cuttings and kitchen or garden waste within a few weeks. The composting process is fairly rapid during the summer, and you can have finished compost within three months. The process will take considerably longer if the container is filled late in the autumn, when the necessary microorganisms, insects and worms retreat further down in the soil. You can speed up the process by using special containers insulated from the sold. If you have several containers, you can top up each in turn to ensure that you always have a supply of finished compost available. While the material in the first container is decomposing, you can fill a second and even a third bin with your garden waste and vegetable peel.
Making a wire mesh compost silo
You can easily make a simple compost holder from plastic-coated wire mesh. For a container one metre in diameter you will need a piece of netting measuring 320 x 100cm. The mesh should be strong enough to stand up on its own when shaped into a cylinder. Once you have pinched in the ends, the bin is ready for filling. The simple cylinder is stable, roomy and lets air through. However, the material in it will be drier and take longer to decay.
Soon after the first filling, the micro-organisms, insects and worms will start to work. You can increase the rate of breakdown by mixing the coinposting material with a few spadefuls of finished compost, soil or a commercial composting agent.
The benefits of compost
When natural materials break down into their simple constituents, a natural cycle is maintained. Nothing is wasted, nothing disappears from the earth. But our usual, careless treatment of nature results in resources being continually impoverished. Anyone with a piece of land, or a garden, however small, should consider establishing a compost heap. Even better, district councils could create large communal compost areas instead of removing organic waste from blocks of flats - but unfortunately, this very rarely happens.
Composting does take a certain amount of time, even when you use one of the various methods of speeding up the process, but it gives a wonderful material which acts like a magic potion on plants. You do not even have to wait for compost to be fully matured: semi-composted waste can also be used. This material is suitable for use under shrubs and larger herbaceous plants, for example, whose leaves will hide the slightly messy scatterings. It will not be long before the semi-compost breaks down fully in its new location.
Grass cuttings as a semi-compost
Many gardeners prefer to spread grass cuttings directly beneath plants, where they will break down without the need for a composting bin.
These cuttings should be spread very thickly. The soil retains its moisture for a long time under the grass mulch, and the topsoil does not form a crust.