What is composting?
Forming a mixture of decaying organic matter, usually fruit or vegetable matter, using leaves and manure in order to fertilize the soil and improve its structure. Simply put, it’s taking the organic waste from around your house and letting it decay to form a mixture that can be used as manure and fertilizer. It’s a mostly natural process and the end product is a dark, damp and rich almost sweet-smelling crumbly matter.
Why should I learn how to make compost?
Every house, big or small will inevitably have daily kitchen waste that you can put to better use. Done in the right manner, compost is the best fertilizer you can get. The best part is you can make it on your own! Add the fact that it’s entirely eco-friendly and you have the easy solution to a no-pollution way to make your plants and gardens more nourished. It’s always a positive step to be recycling everyday waste to benefit you in return.
Where can I start?
No matter what your growing space is, be it a garden, a patio box, a window or just a bin; you can make compost anywhere! Choose your space depending on how you want to make your compost but always ensure that it is a sunny spot because sunlight is a very essential element to the process of making compost.
How to compost?
The process is quite basic. Compost is essentially made up of green elements rich in nitrogen and brown elements rich in carbon.
The ‘Greens’:
- Grass clippings
- Leaves, soft green pruning
- Vegetable or fruit matter
- Nettles, young weed growth
- Tea bags and leaves and coffee ground
- Animal urine or manure
The ‘Browns’:
- Dry or fallen leaves
- Cardboard (cartons, cereal boxes, egg holders)
- Waste paper, newspaper
- Sawdust, wood shavings, old bedding
- Crushed egg shells
Once you have your compost material ready, you can’t just dump it all in a pile and expect a heap of compost. Well, it will eventually turn into compost but there’s a faster, more methodical way to go about it. To make a perfectly balanced mix, make sure there is an equal amount of ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ in your compost mix. Layer everything together neatly, making sure there are equal alternating layers of all kinds of waste. Keep turning the heap and give it a good mix occasionally. This will speed up the whole process.
When will my compost be ready to use? Using regular kitchen waste, your compost can be ready in about six to eight weeks or a tad bit more. Ideally, the more effort you put in, the quicker you get results.
Things to Remember:
- Do not compost animal waste, dead animals, litter and plastic material.
- Good compost does not give out a foul smell, so if your heap stinks, give it a good mix and add more brown matter.
- Keep your compost only damp enough to fasten the process of decomposition. You do not want the contents drenching in water.
So go ahead, pick up the wastes and get to making compost. You can even show others how to compost. No matter what scale you do it at, no matter how big or small, composting is a ‘thumbs-up’ process for sure!
