What can I use for my compost?
The main thing to remember is to balance your nitrogen-rich
'greens' with your nitrogen-poor
'browns' to keep your compost healthy. Here's a
list to help you...
'greens':
- Fruit & vegetable scraps (including citrus peel)
- Tea bags, coffee grounds & filter paper
- Crushed egg shells
- Grass cuttings (not too many)
- Young hedge clippings
- Annual weeds e.g. chickweed and speedwell
- Old flowers & nettles
- Manure
- Pond algae
'browns':
- Gerbil, hamster & rabbit bedding
- Egg boxes
- Thin cardboard, paper, corrugated cardboard packaging, toilet
& kitchen rolls, and newspaper (torn up into small pieces)
- Dry leaves (small quantaties)
- Garden prunings
- Straw
- Woody twigs & hedge trimmings
- Ashes from wood, paper & lumpwood charcoal
- Sawdust & wood chippings
- Wool, cotten thread & tumble dryer lint
- Vacuum bag contents
- Shredded paper
DO NOT put in cooked food waste, meat fish, cat
litter, dog faeces, glossy magazines, roots of perennial weeds,
diseased plants, plastic, glass or metal.
How do I get good quality compost?
If you want good quality compost, you have to look after your
compost heap. Here are a few
tips...
- Find the right site - Ideally put it in the
garden on bare soil. If you have to put it onto concrete, tarmac or
patio slabs, ensure there's a layer of soil or existing compost at
the bottom of the composter so the worms can colonise.
- Layer it - Each time you put a layer of greens
in, add an equal layer of browns too
- Keep your compost moist - Not too wet and not
dry. Check before you add a layer: if it's dry add water; if it's
soggy, add some more brown material
- Add some air so it doesn't smell - Give your
compost an occasional turn with a garden fork.
- Sit back and relax - It takes six to nine
months for your compost to be ready for use, so patience is the
final ingredient.
- Ready for use - Once your compost has turned
into a dark material resembling thick, moist soil and gives off an
earthy fresh aroma, you'll know it's ready for use!
- Collect the compost - Lift the bin slightly or
open the hatch at the bottom and scoop out the fresh compost with a
garden fork or spade.
- Use it - Don't worry if it looks a bit lumpy
with twigs or bits of eggshell, this is perfectly normal. use it to
enrich borders or vegetable patches, plant up patio containers or
feed the lawn.
Further Information
You can purchase a discounted compost bin subsidised by Newham
online, by post or over the phone.
For more information on how to improve your compost, visit the
Compost Works tips for composting.
Community
Composting Network and
Waste Online also have some information and
links on composting. |