You can make your own compost!

18 September 2014

Many gardeners are happy to make their own compost, but for some this sounds like too much effort. ‘But that doesn’t need to be the case,’ says Pieter Kotzé of Reliance Compost. ‘Spring, when it starts getting warmer, is the perfect time to start! If you make your own compost, you’ll be doing your garden and the environment a favour. You’ll recycle garden and kitchen waste that would’ve ended up on a landfill, save fuel by not having to drive to the dump, and your garden will benefit from the homemade product,’ he explains. But with the right method, you can have compost in your garden within four to six months.

Heap or container?
It doesn’t matter if you make compost in a container or on a heap. For smaller gardens, a compost bin is tidier; make one out of wooden planks or buy a plastic compost bin at your local garden centre or hardware store. You can also use an old drum; simply remove the top and bottom – remember to drill a few holes in the walls of the drum. Your compost bin must stand firm and not have a base so that the waste inside can make contact with the soil underneath and insects that help to decompose the material can have free access to the contents.

How much space?
The size of your garden will determine how big your compost bin or heap will be. A compost bin of about 1.5 x 1.5m and 1m high is large enough for a small- to medium-sized garden. If you have a big garden and you have lots of garden waste, you can make a bigger heap, which of course requires more effort and time.

What can be added?
Although all organic material is suitable for composting, meat and other animal products are not ideal for home composting. Therefore, use only green waste that is rich in nitrogen and brown waste that is rich in carbon.

Green waste is fresh lawn clippings, green garden material and dead flowers, as well as kitchen waste such as peels, crushed eggshells, coffee grounds, used tea bags, weeds that haven’t set seed and green leaves. Comfrey, elder and yarrow make excellent green waste because they decompose easily and add nutritious minerals to the compost.
Brown waste is any dead plant material such as autumn leaves, dry branches, sticks and straw, as well as cardboard, newspaper and egg boxes; the latter three must be torn into smaller pieces before you add them to the heap.

What must be avoided?
If you’re not a compost expert, rather avoid raw and cooked meat, fish, dairy products and processed products (such as food scraps and products containing sugar), as these can attract rats and mice – and smell bad. Wood that has been treated with chemicals and pet droppings are also taboo. Wood ash should only be added in very small quantities.

Don’t throw away!
All of the following kitchen and garden waste is suitable for a compost heap or bin: