Composting: A Simple Guide to Compost

The Oxford English Dictionary defines compost as, "decayed organic material used as a fertilizer for growing plants." So basically compost is dead plants that are added to soil to introduce more nutrients and minerals. Let us look at an example, there is a garden that is used to grow vegetables, grass starts to grow in that garden. The gardener pulls up the grass. The grass has absorbed a lot of the gardens nutrients so if it is thrown away it will be a waste of nutrients for the garden. So the gardener will turn the grass into compost so that the nutrients can be put back into the soil to feed the vegetable plants, thus giving the gardener bigger, more nutritional vegetables (Yum!).

Certain types of weeds can be easily composted as well as grass. Weeds are annoying plants that can grow in the garden and can steal all of the nutrients that gardener's plants need thus killing off the rest of the plants. Some kinds of weeds should not be composted because instead of dying and decaying they will grow within a compost heap/compost bin and will steal all of the lovely nutrients from the compost.

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There are various different ways to make compost, some people use compost bins some use compost heaps. A compost heap in its most basic for is pretty much self explanatory, it is a heap of compost, usually situated in the corner of a garden. The compost heap gets compostable materials added to it on a regular basis.

Compostable materials include things like:

*Stale/mouldy fruit and vegetables
*Fruit and vegetable peelings
*Fruit and vegetable left over's i.e. apple cores
*Paper
*Wood chips
*Leaves
*Grass
*Straw
*Mushrooms
*Tea and coffee grounds
*Eggshells
*Hedge trimmings
*Horse and Cow droppings (Yuk! Poo!)

There are of course loads of other items that can be composted and the internet is full of sites that have huge lists of compostable materials. The materials will be gathered up into a heap and will be turned (using a shovel the compost at the top will be moved to the bottom, it is a bit like stirring a soup cooking in a saucepan, the soup is stirred so that the heat is evenly distributed and to prevent the soup from scorching) over about once a week so that the materials will 'break down' or decompose at an even rate. The materials will eventually form a soft brown substance that is of a similar consistency to a very light soil.

There is a very easy way of making compost without having to turn the compost regularly called the 'no-turn' method. If layers of straw are added to the compost heap it allows air to be circulated evenly through the compost heap so that the materials decompose at an even rate thus creating perfect compost. As the composting materials are added to the heap along with a layer of straw it is always a good idea to use the compost from the bottom of the heap as that compost will have decomposed before the new materials at the top.

Autumn is a great time for composters as leaves fall from the trees and provide composters with loads of great composting materials. The leaves can be raked up into piles and can be left to turn into compost. For optimal compost conditions the piles of leaves are piled up in a shaded area so as to help keep the leaves damp as dry leaves do not decompose properly. The leaves are piled up in loose piles to allow air to circulate through the pile it works the same way as using straw in the 'no-turn' method. The time it takes for the pile of leaves to decompose can vary depending on the types of leaves, the weather (whether it is hot or cold, dry or damp weather) and it can depend on the number of leaves used in a pile and how well aerated the pile is. The average time for a large pile of leaves to become compost is between 4 and 6 months. Compost created from leaves alone is fantastic for mixing with soil and giving it a slight boost in nutritional value, but it is not a very good fertiliser as the materials are dead leaves (meaning that they have less nutrients and minerals in them because they are dead).

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The best composting materials are materials that have high concentrations of carbon and nitrogen. The list above provides some great examples of these but there are far more. Coffee grounds make excellent composting materials due to their high concentration of nitrogen. Many gardeners who grow roses use coffee ground because the coffee grounds help to grow huge beautiful roses. It is really easy to get hold of large quantities of used coffee grounds. Big chain coffee companies like Starbucks offer their used coffee grounds to gardeners for free. It is a case of bring a bag and scoop as much of the coffee grounds into the bag as needed.

When composting materials begin to decompose they can cause an awful smell. As the process of decomposition takes place methane is released into the air, it basically causes the compost heap to smell like a really big fart. This smell can attract flies and other such pests. These pests can be discouraged by covering each layer of the compost with a fine layer of powdered lime stone or calcium. The calcium and lime will mask the smell of the compost thus it will not attract horrible winged bugs from zooming about the compost heap. Compost heaps often attract worms, worms are a composters best friend as they help to speed up the process of composting and they excrete a lovely fertiliser as they are eating away at the composting materials. They also help to circulate air through the compost by creating little tunnels throughout the compost.

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