GARDEN + GARDENING + GARDEN DESIGN + GARDENING TIPS & ADVICE

Many people think that making compost is too difficult a process to use in their gardens, but oh, how wrong they are! The composting process is very simple. You normally throw away your kitchen scraps, old flowers, garden rubbish and maybe your grass clippings. However, you can make compost in a few weeks by using all the things that you would otherwise have thrown away from your kitchen and garden.

Simply combine all these items in a compost bin, and they will heat up quickly and rot, as long as you turn the pile regularly. A host of microscopic creatures turn your waste into something wonderful for your garden. These little critters need oxygen, so turning your pile every few weeks will help air to circulate.

You can compost grass cuttings, manure and young weeds (not those that have put out seeds), as they are all quick to compost. You can mix them with fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable plant remains, rabbit or hamster bedding, and soft prunings.

Composting needs air, moisture, and warmth. A traditional compost heap is just a heap of waste materials, which can take between six to twelve months to produce wonderful, usable compost. You will find that it rots faster in the summer. The secret to great composting is to mix several different ingredients, as the good bacteria needs a variety of food and nutrients to thrive. A compost pile with only weeds or leaves will not decompose properly, as the working microbes need nutrients in other sources such as starter soils and kitchen scraps. Also, never let your compost heap dry out, but don’t keep it too wet, either.

Compost is ready when it has a rich, dark color. Packed with nutrients and healthy organics, mix it into the soil near your plants for a powerful dose of healthy - not to mention free - organic fertilizer for your garden.

Contributed by Goorganicgardening.com, a resource site on organic gardening and composting tips.

• Backyard Garden tips - How to make a great compost
• Organic Tips For Your Vegetable Garden
• Brighten Your Shade Garden

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 9:08 am and is filed under Gardening General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.