Moisture

The decomposers thrive in a moisture rich environment. It should be quite damp, but not soaking wet, there should be enough moisture to cover all surfaces of the organic matter, but not wet enough that its sodden as this will exclude air from the mixture promoting those nasty anaerobic conditions. So if you have lots of wet leaves or grass cuttings, you will need to add more dry matter like straw or dry leaves just to balance things out a little.

Temperature

Increased temperatures do encourage an in

Bacteria, fungi, worms and beetles (the decomposers) all help the material to eventually breakdown, bins and heaps are a great way of turning your household scraps into this valuable material to enrich your soil.

In the environment this decomposition happening in nature as leaves pile up on the forest floor and begin to decay. Eventually, the rotting leaves are returned to the soil, where living roots can finish the recycling process by reclaiming the nutrients from the decomposed leaves.

Today to turn this waste into useful humus/soil is not only helping us have a fantastic growing medium for our tomatoes but is also helping reduce the pressure on landfill space which is growing increasingly scarce, you really are doing your bit for the environment.

To successfully compost you need to understand some composting basics to ensure the right environmental conditions are present to allow the micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi)to thrive. If you maintain your compost pile to provide for their needs, they will happily turn your garden and kitchen waste into compost a whole lot quicker.

You need to keep in mind the following when building your compost pile:

Air Circulation. Freely circulating air is vital to a compost heap. Composting microbes are aerobic -- they can't do their work well unless they are provided with air. Without air, anaerobic (non-air needing) microbes take over the pile. They cause slow decomposition, and tend to smell like really bad rubbish. So it is important to make sure that there are plenty of air spaces in your compost pile.

Some compost ingredients, such as green grass clippings or wet leaves, mat down very easily into slimy layers that air cannot get through. Other ingredients, such as straw, do not mat down easily and are very helpful in allowing air into the center of a pile. To make sure that you have adequate aeration for your pile and its microbes, thoroughly break up or mix in any ingredients that might mat down and exclude air. You can also turn the pile to get air into it, which means completely breaking it apart with a spade or garden fork.

Moisture

The decomposers thrive in a moisture rich environment. It should be quite damp, but not soaking wet, there should be enough moisture to cover all surfaces of the organic matter, but not wet enough that its sodden as this will exclude air from the mixture promoting those nasty anaerobic conditions. So if you have lots of wet leaves or grass cuttings, you will need to add more dry matter like straw or dry leaves just to balance things out a little.

Temperature

Increased temperatures do encourage an inc

Today to turn this waste into useful humus/soil is not only helping us have a fantastic growing medium for our tomatoes but is also helping reduce the pressure on landfill space which is growing increasingly scarce, you really are doing your bit for the environment.

To successfully compost you need to understand some composting basics to ensure the right environmental conditions are present to allow the micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi)to thrive. If you maintain your compost pile to provide for their needs, they will happily turn your garden and kitchen waste into compost a whole lot quicker.

You need to keep in mind the following when building your compost pile:

Air Circulation. Freely circulating air is vital to a compost heap. Composting microbes are aerobic -- they can't do their work well unless they are provided with air. Without air, anaerobic (non-air needing) microbes take over the pile. They cause slow decomposition, and tend to smell like really bad rubbish. So it is important to make sure that there are plenty of air spaces in your compost pile.

Some compost ingredients, such as green grass clippings or wet leaves, mat down very easily into slimy layers that air cannot get through. Other ingredients, such as straw, do not mat down easily and are very helpful in allowing air into the center of a pile. To make sure that you have adequate aeration for your pile and its microbes, thoroughly break up or mix in any ingredients that might mat down and exclude air. You can also turn the pile to get air into it, which means completely breaking it apart with a spade or garden fork.

Moisture

The decomposers thrive in a moisture rich environment. It should be quite damp, but not soaking wet, there should be enough moisture to cover all surfaces of the organic matter, but not wet enough that its sodden as this will exclude air from the mixture promoting those nasty anaerobic conditions. So if you have lots of wet leaves or grass cuttings, you will need to add more dry matter like straw or dry leaves just to balance things out a little.

Temperature

Increased temperatures do encourage an in

You need to keep in mind the following when building your compost pile:

Air Circulation. Freely circulating air is vital to a compost heap. Composting microbes are aerobic -- they can't do their work well unless they are provided with air. Without air, anaerobic (non-air needing) microbes take over the pile. They cause slow decomposition, and tend to smell like really bad rubbish. So it is important to make sure that there are plenty of air spaces in your compost pile.

Some compost ingredients, such as green grass clippings or wet leaves, mat down very easily into slimy layers that air cannot get through. Other ingredients, such as straw, do not mat down easily and are very helpful in allowing air into the center of a pile. To make sure that you have adequate aeration for your pile and its microbes, thoroughly break up or mix in any ingredients that might mat down and exclude air. You can also turn the pile to get air into it, which means completely breaking it apart with a spade or garden fork.

Moisture

The decomposers thrive in a moisture rich environment. It should be quite damp, but not soaking wet, there should be enough moisture to cover all surfaces of the organic matter, but not wet enough that its sodden as this will exclude air from the mixture promoting those nasty anaerobic conditions. So if you have lots of wet leaves or grass cuttings, you will need to add more dry matter like straw or dry leaves just to balance things out a little.

Temperature

Increased temperatures do encourage an in

Some compost ingredients, such as green grass clippings or wet leaves, mat down very easily into slimy layers that air cannot get through. Other ingredients, such as straw, do not mat down easily and are very helpful in allowing air into the center of a pile. To make sure that you have adequate aeration for your pile and its microbes, thoroughly break up or mix in any ingredients that might mat down and exclude air. You can also turn the pile to get air into it, which means completely breaking it apart with a spade or garden fork.

Moisture

The decomposers thrive in a moisture rich environment. It should be quite damp, but not soaking wet, there should be enough moisture to cover all surfaces of the organic matter, but not wet enough that its sodden as this will exclude air from the mixture promoting those nasty anaerobic conditions. So if you have lots of wet leaves or grass cuttings, you will need to add more dry matter like straw or dry leaves just to balance things out a little.

Temperature

Increased temperatures do encourage an in

Moisture

The decomposers thrive in a moisture rich environment. It should be quite damp, but not soaking wet, there should be enough moisture to cover all surfaces of the organic matter, but not wet enough that its sodden as this will exclude air from the mixture promoting those nasty anaerobic conditions. So if you have lots of wet leaves or grass cuttings, you will need to add more dry matter like straw or dry leaves just to balance things out a little.

Temperature

Increased temperatures do encourage an increase in the activity of those vital decomposers, so the process of decomposition will decrease with a drop in temperature over the winter months. To encourage a longer season for decomposition, then place it in the sunniest position you can to extend the season.

Important points to remember:- If you keep in mind that faster decomposers are aerobic(they like air) and they like to be warm and moist then you are pretty much on your way to mastering the composting basics.

What materials can I compost? Deciding what composting materials you can use you use is relatively simple. It can basically be divided into two groups the "Greens" and the "Browns".

Greens are rich in Nitrogen and Browns are rich in Carbon.

The correct balance between the two will result in a good compost. A 50:50 balance of each will result in a good compost bin or pile.

Summary of Greens

Tea Leaves

Tea Bags

Coffee Grounds

Fruit and vegetable peelings

Grass cuttings

Dried flowers

Egg shells

Summary of Browns

Light card board- eg- egg box

Kitchen paper

Light Hedge Clippings

Sawdust or wood shavings

Wood and Peat ash(no coal ash)

A healthy compost pile or compost bin will have a good Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio.

Good compost hygiene means covering fresh nitrogen-rich material, which can release odours if exposed to open air, with carbon-rich material, which often exudes are better smell. I always add more Carbon if I can or if in doubt.

What materials should I not compost? See summary below of materials not suitable for the home composter:-

Material Reason

• Meat and fish -attracts pests
• Oil and grease -attracts pests
• Cooked food -attracts pests
• Evergreen shrubs -too acidic
• Cat or dog waste -risk of disease
• Plastic, metal and glass -will not break down
• Corn on the cob, timber -takes too long to break down