Making a Compost Heap
Here at Forge Farm the easiest way to start a compost heap is to create a box made from the wooden palettes that are occasionally delivered to our site, or you could seek out your own. If preferred plastic compost bins can often be purchased through our local council. A position in full sun will give the compost heap additional heat, allowing the contents to decompose more rapidly. If a sunny position can’t be found don’t worry, compost is easily made in a freestanding pile in a partially shaded area. For a compost heap to be effective, it should be a least a cubic metre in size if not bigger, smaller ones tend to be less effective. When adding waste materials to the heap, the items should be as small as you can make them. The more surface area that is exposed, the quicker it will decompose. Shredded or chipped material is a big help. Some people add layers of dirt between the compost to help add micro-organisms or better still as many worms as you can lay your hands on. Compost heaps in containers can be built up with successive layers of green and brown material, with thin layers of top soil to help the process. The best ingredients Browns are dry and dead plant materials, such as straw, hay, dry brown weeds, autumn leaves, nutshells, shredded paper, wood chip and saw dust. Because they tend to be dry it is best to moisten them as you put them in the heap. Greens are fresh plant materials, such as green weeds (not pernicious), fruit and vegetable scraps, green leaves, grass clippings, tea bags, sea weed, green manures and fresh horse manure. Compared to brown, greens contain more nitrogen. |
Useful You Tube Videos:
|