Gardeners love compost. It’s common knowledge that compost improves water drainage, fertility, and structure of garden soil and it’s a cornerstone of Organic gardening. The most environmentally friendly was of obtaining compost is to make your own, but most of us need to top that up with bought compost. Here is an article about peat in compost: Why Peat Free Compost is a Good Thing. If a bag of compost doesn’t specify ‘peat free’ it more than likely contains peat – we stock an excellent quality peat free compost in our Trading Hut .
Making compost is easy and inexpensive – grass clippings, old plants from your plot, prunings and vegetable wastes from the kitchen are the some of the common materials you can use to make compost. A mixture of materials, moisture and air will ensure the composting process will happen with no need for compost accelerators. Of course compost can be purchased from Garden Centres but your own is more or less free, uses the waste materials from your plot so that you don’t have to take them to the tip, is full of nutrients and is good for the environment.
To get started making your own compost, you need the right equipment. This simplest method is to build an open-sided container that will form a bin about 3 to 5 feet across and not more than 5 feet high. The sides need to be open because making compost requires air circulation. The top should be temporarily covered with a tarp to prevent rain from making the pile too soggy. Most plotholders use old wooden pallets to make their compost bins as they’re a good size and allow air to circulate but you could use a proprietry compost bin or construct one from other materials such as wire mesh or chicken wire.
Items that should be kept out of compost include any cooked food, large amounts of sawdust, pet manure and, of course, anything metallic or plastic.
Serious composters often have several bins in a row where they collect and stockpile materials in preparation for the day they build a layered compost pile; if you have two you can be using one and filling the other.
The smaller the organic material pieces, the faster they will be broken down in the pile. An easy way to prepare thick, woody materials for composting is to grind them in a chipper.
For more information on making compost see Garden Organic – Compost