My life in compost....3

So, now I finally had the compost area of my desire, next, I had to get it working for me.

Firstly I needed to aerate the pile. The more air in it, the quicker it would break down. So, every couple of weeks, I would take the front off and get my fork and spade out and turn the pile. The spade would be used to break up the bigger bits and the fork for turning the pile. I had a clear space at the front of the composter and would turn it all out on to there and then pile it all back in to the composter, breaking up any larger bits with my spade as I went along.

This was great, every time I turned it I could see the pile breaking down more and more, but I soon came across a problem. How to harvest the compost? If I wanted to get it out I needed to stop adding to it for a while. But what should I do with the food waste whilst the rest is cooking? I had to bite the bullet again and redesign. I needed to extend the compost area and make a double composter. One for “on –the-go” and one for “resting”.

So off I went again. I could simply add another compost bin next to the original one, but, this time I had some different bits of wood left over and this would mean making a different compost bin. The wood I had left over was enough for two bins so I would jolly well start again and make two matching bins! This time I was ably assisted by my four year old son armed with a hammer and a spirit level! He was very good at quality control – ensuring every piece was level and if not giving it a good whack to get it in line!

So the pallets and posts were ripped out and, armed with some spare wood I had lying around, I started again. Same design as before but with two extra posts in the middle to make the extra wall. I again made a sliding door and a hinged roof and threw all the old compost back in to one of the bins. This became my “resting” bin and we then started filling up the other one straight away.

Each bin is now turned every time I have a couple of spare minutes and once the “resting” bin is all broken down, the compost gets distributed around the garden, the “on-the-go” gets rested and we start again.

My journey into the world of compost was complete.

Finally, here are some composting basics I try to stick to:

Keep a good mix in your compost bin – leaves, grass and weeds are as important as uncooked food waste with the important exception of invasive weeds, weeds with vigorous rhizomes, or weeds which have already set seed, all should be avoided.

Grass is great in the compost but should be well mixed into the pile.

Add ripped up paper to add a bit of texture to the pile and leave some air pockets in the heap.

Most things can be composted but if it is longer than six inches or wider than an inch it will stick around for ages in the pile, so break it up.

Avoid cooked food, meat and dairy products.

Turn it, turn it, and turn it!

Simon Zec.

Treedom Tree Surgery and Garden Services.
www.treedomsussex.co.uk

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