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Composting
Composting involves the aerobic decomposition of organic matter and is an essential link in the cycle of a sustainable and self sufficient garden. It is a valuable means of converting organic materials from your kitchen and garden into nutrient rich soil that can regenerate your garden soil to benefit future fruit, vegetable and flower crops.
Benefits and uses of compost
- Composting is easy to start
- Reduces household landfill waste
- Converts organic waste to nutrient rich soil
- Kills seeds and weeds
- Can be used as a Mulch to restrict weed growth
- Improves drainage in clay soils
- Improves moisture retention in sandy soils
- Natural alternative to manmade fertilisers
- Reduces demand for peat.
Compost activators
These are anything that get the composting process started.
Compost activators that are high in nitrogen such as poultry manure, Comfrey leaves, grass cuttings and urine are easily digested by bacteria therefore giving energy for the composting process to continue.
Strawy manures compost quickly, providing there is a high percentage of manure and moisture to sustain the decomposition of the straw.
Wood shaving based manures take far longer to decay, primarily because shavings require high levels of nitrogen to decay. The microbes trying to decay the shavings rob the nitrogen from the soil only returning the nitrogen back to the soil when fully decayed. You can speed up the decay of woodshavings by making sure there is a higher percentage of manure to shavings, plenty of moisture and regular turning.
When
Organic material can be added to the compost heap at any time of the year. However, the composting process is slower during the winter due to the cold and excess rain.
When turning cannot be carried out regularly, a boarded bay or container can be used to help keep the heat in for longer.
Where
Compost bins and heaps should be located on bare soil to allow for drainage of excess moisture. They should be located in a warm, sunny spot with shelter from potentially, drying winds. Ideally it would make sense to have a composting area right next to, or on the vegetable pot or near to flower beds, that way it will be possible to save time and effort moving the material.
How
A heap is realistically the easiest, most natural and effective method of composting material, providing the heap is turned weekly. A heap can also be of almost unlimited size and makes the most of the rain and sun light.
A compost bin can look neater and will hold in moisture better than other methods but can only hold a limited amount of material and is restrictive and awkward when turning is required.
Compost bays are a neat and formal way of composting material from large gardens and smallholdings. Three or more bays can be used each one containing compost at varying stages of the process. The first bay will contain freshly cut organic material. Once this material has heated up once and started to decay it will be turned into the neighbouring bay. This process continues. By the time the last bay is reached, the material is fully decayed and can be spread back onto the garden.
Turning
A good air supply to the composting material is important to ensure decomposition does not slow or stop. This can be achieved by turning the compost regularly or by placing compost material on a layer of twiggy brash material, then covering the heap with soil or a sheet and leaving for several months to decay. Turning compost is not essential but will greatly speed up the composting process.
A compost heap should always be well mixed. Ideally a heap or bin would contain a mix of sappy and twiggy material to ensure the heap does not slump. That in turn hinders the rate of decomposition.
An excessively wet compost mix can be improved by adding straw, a dry one, especially if slow to decay or showing signs of a white fungus known as Fire fang should be opened up and soaked with water.
The final product
It may take 1 to 3 years for organic materials to compost fully to a fine consistency, providing twiggy material is no larger than 0.5cm in diameter. The end product should be dark brown in colour with no recognisable ingredients.
Leaf mould
Leaf litter can be collected during the autumn from beneath trees and can be heaped up or dug straight into the soil.
Leaf mould produces the finest compost available, but can take several years to decay when heaped.
A mixture of grass cuttings and leaf litter will produce an excellent quality, fine textured largely weed free compost within 2 years. This can be used for potting on plants and improving garden beds.
Turf
Turf can be composted by stacking with the grass face of one turf covered with the grass face of another turf. The heap should be covered with a sheet or layer of topsoil and left to decay. Turning is not necessary. Turf can be dug directly into the soil of a bed, the only problem arising from this is that the grass may grow through the soil and reappear at the surface. Composting, breaks down the root system of the grass until the turfs become loose, easy to work soil.