Composting is not only easy and effort free but also reaps financial, environmental and emotional rewards!
But don’t just take my word for it- the proof is in the hummus ;)!
Humus is the black gold that remains at the bottom of a compost heap or bin when all the remaining material has been decomposed. Gardeners call it black gold because:
It helps improve the soil structure of a garden, increasing water and nutrient retention at the same time as ensuring good drainage!
It is nutrient rich, offering free food to growing plants!
It can be used on flower beds/ new borders/ as mulch/ in potted plants/ on lawns, as well as for growing herbs and veg!
And here’s how you make it:
- Get a bin or start a heap in your garden. A bin works best to help warm the pile and keep things tidy!
- Get a small bucket or kitchen caddy to collect RAW and vegetarian only food waste from your kitchen. Raw and vegetable waste won’t attract any unwanted vermin to your bin. Cooked food waste can be put in your brown food waste bin, collected by the council.
- When full, empty your bucket or caddy into your compost bin, adding also any waste paper/ cardboard/ garden waste (small) you have. In order to keep composting creatures (worms/insects/bacteria) working well and ensure air circulation and moisture regulation, a roughly equal measure of green (kitchen waste) to brown (cardboard/paper/twigs) materials are needed.
- Keep adding contents in equal measures…several months later…check the bottom of your compost bin and you should be able to collect your very own harvest of black gold!
- You can keep adding to the top of the bin, even when collecting from the bottom, the composting process will be continually taking place.
Besides offering your garden/plants a free fertiliser and soil enricher, composting also helps to divert huge amounts of biodegradable waste from landfill. Why does this matter? In landfill, waste decomposes in anaerobic conditions, creating methane gas- far more toxic to our atmosphere than CO2. When you compost your raw kitchen and garden waste, you allow it to degrade with oxygen, which creates CO2 instead! Every compost bin helps divert an average of 220 Kg from landfill each year!
More information, as well as handy hints and tips, can also be found here.
Happy Composting!!!