What's in the compost bin today? 

• How to make leaf mold
• Oh rats!
• Master Composters on the Alternative Kitchen Garden show
• Compost pics!
• High Fiber Composting
• In-Vessel Composting
• Composting: a brief guide for beginners
• Red Worm Composting
• Worm composting on the Alternative Kitchen Garden podcast
• Book review: Worms Eat My Garbage
• Bring on the Bokashi
• Composting with worms
• Coffee-flavoured compost!
• Composting is for everyone
• Composting with plastic composters
• Compsters on eBay
• Say hello!
• Great composting sites

How to make leaf mold 

Turn trash into treasure by making leaf mold

No one likes to look forward to the end of summer, but if you plan ahead then falling leaves can become a valuable resource for your garden.

Falling leaves need to be removed from most areas of your garden - they bleach lawns, foul ponds and look messy - but they're not trash, they're treasure.

Create a leaf mold composter and you can turn your leaves into leaf mold. Leaf mold is gardening gold - a low fertility soil improver that helps soil hold nutrients and moisture by improving soil structure.

Don't add leaves to your regular composter - they are very slow to break down. Create a wire container (or simply use a plastic sack with some air holes) where the leaves can break down on their own over a year or two.

Learn more about making leaf mold in episode 32 of Alternative Kitchen Garden podcast. Or, if you're in a hurry, check out my 8 point guide to making leaf mold.

Oh rats! 

Worried about rodents in your compost?

Master Composters on the Alternative Kitchen Garden show 

Share your love of compost

If you love making compost, why not share that love with your friends and neighbors? Throughout the world there are Master Composter schemes, designed to help you do just that!

Check out Emma's experience of her local Master Composter scheme in episode 67 of The Alternative Kitchen Garden show.

Compost pics! 

Sturdy leaf mould bin at Ryton Organic Gardens

Another leaf mould bin

'Rolypig' composter

Green cone composter surrounded by nettles

Leaf mould sack

High Fiber Composting 

Easy peasy cold composting

The Center for Alternative Technology is a hot bed of research into new techniques and technologies for sustainable living.

Through extensive trials, they have come up with a method of cold composting that's really easy and suitable for all households.

With their 'high fiber' method, the compost heap not only disposes of kitchen and garden waste, but also recycles waste paper and cardboard. The resulting mix of materials breaks down quickly and easily, with no real maintenance required, into compost for your garden.

For more information, check out my article on high fiber composting or listen to episode 60 of The Alternative Kithen Garden.

In-Vessel Composting 

In-Vessel (AKA Enclosed) composting is an environmentally friendly way to deal with organic waste - garden waste, food waste and cardboard that residents can't compost at home. It's done on a vast scale - this fearsome looking machine turns the piles of compost!

Learn more about my trip to see in-vessel composting in action in episode 73 of the Alternative Kitchen Garden Show.

Composting: a brief guide for beginners 

Red Worm Composting 

Red Worm Composting is the online diary of a passionate worm composter with over 10 years of experience.

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Worm composting on the Alternative Kitchen Garden podcast 

Learn all about my worm composters and what's involved in having your own in episode 26 of the Alternative Kitchen Garden.

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Book review: Worms Eat My Garbage 

'How to set up an maintain a worm composting system'

Mary Appelhof was known as the Worm Lady because of her tireless efforts to promote worm composting.

Worms Eat My Garbage is the definitive book on the subject, covering everything from how to make your own worm compost bin to worm reproduction and the ecology of worm composters.

If you're thinking about setting up a worm compost bin, or just want to know a bit more about what's going on in yours, then this is definitely a book to have in your library.

Bring on the Bokashi 

Compost food waste safely with EM

Bokashi is a composting system for food waste. Waste is put in an air-tight bucket with Bokashi bran (which contains EM, Effective Microorganisms). Over a couple of weeks, the EM pickles the waste.

When you empty the bucket, the waste will look the same but smell of vinegar. When you add this pickled waste to a compost heap it breaks down very rapidly without attracting vermin.

Composting with worms 

Worm composting is perfect for people who have a lot of kitchen waste, or no garden, or who want to keep composting throughout a cold winter.

Worm composters cam be expensive, but there are plans to build your own on the internet. You just need to remember to add proper drainage, so that the worms don't drown.

Composting worms are available via mail order, or you may be able to get some at your local fishing supply store as they are also used as bait.

Composting worms will happily eat their way through your uncooked vegetable waste. They don't like an acidic environment, so avoid adding too much citrus peel. And don't add leftover Mexican food, as they don't like it spicy!

When you first set up your worm composter, don't add too much waste. The worm population will gradually expand to match the amount of food available, but too much waste early on will rot before they can eat it.

Worm composters are easy to manage once they have been properly set up, but in the early stages they can need tweaking to make them work properly. Read what happened overnight when I set up my first worm composter.

Coffee-flavoured compost! 

Coffee grounds are not trash - they make great compost

Whether you brew your own or go to a coffee shop for your daily fix of coffee, there's no denying that coffee grounds make a great addition to your compost heap. They have a high nitrogen content, so they're ideal for kick-starting the composting process and ensuring you end up with highly nutritious compost. You can add the coffee filter too.

If you're a compost addict and just can't get enough materials for your heap, then try asking at your local coffee shop - many are happy for you to take away their coffee grounds as it saves them money.

Coffee grounds have many uses in the garden, so if you have a good supply check out my article on how to reuse coffee grounds in the garden.

Composting is for everyone 

A large proportion of the garbage thrown out by the average household is organic waste that could be composted. When it decomposes in landfill it creates methane, contributing to climate change. When it decomposes in a compost bin it makes gardening gold out of waste.

You don't need a garden to compost though. There's a style of composting for everyone. To find out more about composting, listen to episode 3 of the Alternative Kitchen Garden podcast.

Composting with plastic composters 

Plastic cones are one of the most popular choices for garden composters because they are inexpensive and readily available. Garden and kitchen waste go in the top and lovely rich compost comes out of the bottom. That's the theory, but in practice beginners can run into problems. Follow my guide to composting with plastic composters, however, and you won't go far wrong.

Compsters on eBay 

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Say hello! 

EmmaCooper Worms are great for composting. To keep fruit flies at bay you should wrap your waste in newspaper (or something similar) before you put it in the composter - if the flies can't get to the surface of the waste they go away. Hair (human or animal) can be added to the compost, but it takes a long time to break down. Make sure it's well mixed in with the other ingredients. Posted September 14, 2008

Margo_Arrowsmith What are your thoughts on using worms in the compost? It has to be kept inside, but is there a way to keep the fruitflies at bay? http://www.squidoo.com/fruit_flies Also, I have thought about putting human and dog hair (I have two dalmatians, thus TONS of dog hair) what do you think? Posted September 13, 2008

EverythingMouse I like the idea of coffee flavored compost! A great lens - composting is so easy and anyone can get involved to make a difference to the environment. Posted September 06, 2008

EmmaCooper Hi Eric, thanks for stopping by! I have been composting with worms for years. I have two worm composters (a Can-O-Worms and a Waste Juggler) and thoroughly enjoy vermicomposting! Posted May 29, 2008

Eric-Smith Very good info here. Thanks for sharing. I wasn't sure from reading if you have used worms for composting or not. What experiences have you have with Vermicomposting ? Posted May 28, 2008

 

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Great composting sites 

Red Worm Composting

Worm composting (vermicomposting) guide: | Information about setting up & maintaining a thriving worm bin or larger vermicomposting system

The Worm Woman

Worm composting (vermicomposting) resources for all experience levels. Secure online payment - books, videos, bins, worms.

Garden Organic

Make your own compost, a comprehensive guide from Garden Organic - the national charity for organic growing