Organic Composting
Davinos Greeno
Making compost from garden and household waste is one of the
best things any gardener can do. Its easy and costs very little
in time or effort.
Making compost will help you reduce pollution and cut down that
landfill! Your plants will grow healthier and look happier for
it and it will save you money on fertilizers too. Our local
council in Manchester has now given us brown bins for us to add
leaves, grass and other compost matter into, which is then
emptied every two weeks once it has reduced to less than half
its size.
What is compost?
Garden guides often describe composting as natures way of
recycling.
Composting is indeed a natural way of recycling, harnessing
natural processes rather than machinery and man-made chemicals,
but it takes people to do it.
Soil maintenance is at the heart of organic growing: don't feed
the plants, feed the soil -- the plants will look after
themselves. The extremely complex subject of soil maintenance
can happily be summed up in one word: composting.
A smelly hole at the far end of the garden filled with
putrefying kitchen wastes and flies buzzing round. That's what
compost isn't. No stinks, no flies, though kitchen waste is
welcome.
Compost is not just decayed organic matter. Composting is
applied microbiology at its most complex, involving the
interactions of thousands upon thousands of different species
of micro organisms in a highly complex ecosystem.
What can I compost?
If it can rot it will compost, but some items are best avoided.
Some things, like grass mowings and soft young weeds, rot
quickly. They work as activators or hotter rotters, getting the
composting started, but on their own will decay to a smelly
mess. Recycle your plant-based, kitchen and garden waste by
making it into compost.
Older and tougher plant material is slower to rot but gives
body to the finished compost - and usually makes up the bulk of
a compost heap. Woody items decay very slowly; they are best
chopped or shredded first, where appropriate.
A container or brown bin is not an absolute necessity as you
can make perfectly good compost in a free standing heap as long
as it is large enough. You will see later why this may be a
drawback. Assuming then that we need to make a container we are
faced with many choices.
Why not make or buy a compost bin? Their usually cheap to buy,
and are available in wood or recycled plastic (that might
otherwise be in your local landfill site). If you're keen you
could combine it with a wormery or use a shredder which
increases the amount of compostable waste. Do not compost foods
such as dairy produce, meat, bread etc as these attract flies
and vermin.
How do I know when its done?
That depends. What was a pile of plant material will gradually,
from the bottom up, turn into a pile of dark stuff that looks
like brown dirt. Eventually, none of the items you put in there
will be recognizable. If you're using it out in the garden, a few
small recognizable bits wont hurt - they'll finish composting in
the garden. If you're using it for houseplants or to start
seeds, its better to wait until its well finished so you don't
have microbes attacking the fine rootlets of new plants.
Dig it in to have a healthy, fertile garden and your fruit and
vegetables can be organic. Don't assume the waste is harmless
and bin it. Putting it in landfill costs money and it will
produce methane (a global warming gas); also it may pollute the
groundwater.
Compost waste often comprises about 20-30% of your total
household waste and the impact on recycling is significant.
About The Author: Davinos Greeno works with the Gardening and
Organic directory
http://www.guidemegreen.com and the Ethical
Directory http://www.getethical.com He also promotes eco
friendly Jobs and Employers at http://www.jobs.guidemegreen.com
See Also:
All About Organic Gardening
Index of Gardens & Gardening
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