hi, i am about to start my first compost heap and any advice would be very much appreciated even if it seems obvious, there is so much information out there I would rather go from hands on experience..
Learn your greens and browns. Lots of info online about which is which. Basically green living, brown dead. Don't get too hung up on it but try and add more browns than greens. This will keep your heap sweet.
Don't add meat or carbs or cooked unless you want vermin
Get a cover of some sort to put over when heap full to speed up rotting.
If you know anyone who keeps chicken, guinea pigs or rabbits, get some of their manure for your heap - beats any other type of 'compost activator' - really gets it going.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Compost is great for the garden. All I add to my compost heap is lawn cuttings, any green vegetable waste, such as cauliflower/cabbage leaves, used teabags, washed/ crushed egg shells, any weeds or plant waste from the garden. I have learn't not to add any potato peeling, as they will start to shoot, any citrus peel or twigs as these take longer to break down. If you turn the compost over with a fork daily it will break down quicker. Hope this helps.
Thanks guys, 3 really useful responses, i havent read anything about greens or browns so will look into that and why do i have to wash my egg shells, is it the same as putting in cooked food?
even if it seems obvious, there is so much information out there I would rather go from hands on experience..
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Hi liseals. Best thing you can do for your garden
Learn your greens and browns. Lots of info online about which is which. Basically green living, brown dead. Don't get too hung up on it but try and add more browns than greens. This will keep your heap sweet.
Don't add meat or carbs or cooked unless you want vermin
Get a cover of some sort to put over when heap full to speed up rotting.
Thats about it really
If you know anyone who keeps chicken, guinea pigs or rabbits, get some of their manure for your heap - beats any other type of 'compost activator' - really gets it going.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Compost is great for the garden. All I add to my compost heap is lawn cuttings, any green vegetable waste, such as cauliflower/cabbage leaves, used teabags, washed/ crushed egg shells, any weeds or plant waste from the garden. I have learn't not to add any potato peeling, as they will start to shoot, any citrus peel or twigs as these take longer to break down. If you turn the compost over with a fork daily it will break down quicker. Hope this helps.
Thanks guys, 3 really useful responses, i havent read anything about greens or browns so will look into that and why do i have to wash my egg shells, is it the same as putting in cooked food?
Wash them first, then crush them up. I've always done this so it doesnt encourage vermin.
We buy fruit and veg from a farm shop and it comes in brown paper bags - they go on the compost heap and are brilliant as one of the 'browns'.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
i read online somewhere that newspaper was good, would you agree?
If you've not got enough browns you can use some newspaper - if you put it through the shredder first it works well.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gawd there is so much to this gardening lark
maybe that's why I love it 