Compost Envy: How to make your own

Bless their wriggly souls. While worm farms do make great garden tea (aka worm wee) and fertiliser, for which I am truly thankful, they aren’t a complete solution. Meanwhile, sitting in the corner, unloved and understated is the humble compost bin.

I have a worm farm and love it. The dear, fickle little critters need nurturing like pets however: do not overfeed nor underfeed, leave out the spicy leftovers, omit the dairy, don’t allow them to overheat, cut up their food, ensure you have babysitter cover when you go on holiday….you know what I mean.

The compost bin on the other hand, doesn’t get picky if you throw in weeds, onion skins and clumps of undesirable leftovers. In fact, every time a winner. A quarterly visit to empty our compost bin result in blissful black, rich soil, overflowing with worms and alive with nutrients. BRING BACK THE COMPOST BIN!

Now, I am sure there are wonderful store-bought compost bins you can spend money on. Ones that flip and rotate to circulate air, ones that tumbles, has layers and funnels – but at the end of the gardening day, the art of composting is so easy, it’s good to rediscover Composting 101 basics.

The rich dirt that’s created from mere scraps are dual purpose: it reduces organic waste from your rubbish bag (therefore the landfill) and gives your garden (or pot plants) much needed nutrient replenishment and revitalisation.

What do you need to make good compost?

Greens, browns and a bit of love is all you need. Greens (nitrogen rich plant matter such as fresh grass clippings, weeds, fruit and vegetable clippings/peelings – ‘fresh’ matter) and browns (carbon rich twigs, plant stalks, dry leaves, sawdust, tea bags – literally ‘dead’ matter) will see you through.

Anything that comes from the ground can go back into the ground.  Great compost doesn’t smell. It is black, rich, and oozing with worms.

With a good compost you want to make it as efficiently as you can, with minimal effort and maximum results – so you can start putting your compost to good use.

All about balance

You’ll be pleased to know that it’s not rocket science. Too many lawn clippings (green) will make the compost nitrogen heavy and resemble a pile of slimey rotten lawn clippings. Too many twigs and stalks will result in not much decomposition at all. You need a healthy balance of both.

Try to keep meats and dairy out of the compost pile as they are likely to attract vermin or result in a pungent smell. Noxious weeds or bulbs that are likely to hibernate and spring into life once back in the garden should also be avoided.

Be realistic about the size of what you are hoping to compost! Half a pumpkin may take a wee while to start to decompose, whereas vegetable peelings will get composting in no time. The smaller the green and brown waste, the sooner it can get down to business and start composting.

Something in the Air

Just like vegetables in landfill which will mummify, the secret to composting is air. Good bacteria and microbes work wonders with it. You don’t necessarily need to ‘fork over’ your compost pile, but some prodding and poking will help aerate your greens and browns each time you add new scraps to the pile.  In fact, depending on your layering, you may not even need to ‘turn’ it at all. We didn’t.

Moisture is Key

Just by default, our weeding goes in fits and starts. This however, combined with weekly veggie scraps, creates layers of dry and moist. Moisture is important. A dry compost bin won’t kick start the composting process at any break neck speed at all.  In winter your compost pile or bin should be covered – not only to keep the heat in, but the rain out so it’s not drenched. In summer, keep an eye open for the moisture content. The rich soil should be dark and lightly moistened (not soggy). A watering can won’t go amiss in the heat of summer.

How did we do it?

A basic pile will work. It may be a bit smelly and ‘open’ may be exposed to birds and rodents, so confining it to a bin of sorts, is preferable.

We’ve used tall container bins before but haven’t had personal success with them.

Last year my Englishman built a compost chest (120cm long, 60cm deep and approx 80cm high).  Rather than being tall and hard to get at, the low profile design works really well for us. Fresh greens and browns are scattered from the top, and rich compost is shoveled out from the hinged flap at the front. Perfect.

In a matter of months, the volume of ‘good soil’ ready to be used is more than enough to dig through several vegetable patches and is teeming with life. Once shoveled away, the hatch is lowered and the ‘in progress’ compost falls into the space beneath so that the good work continues.

Simple.

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