How to make compost

Compost is an efficient way of getting rid of kitchen and garden waste, transforming waste into food for your garden and providing essential nutrients and minerals to the soil.

To get started you will need some kind of container, there are specialist compost bins avaliable but all that is really needed is a covered container with some kind of air supply. You can start composting at any time but the ideal time is Autumn or Spring (warm damp weather), Winter is a bit risky as a hard frost could kill off your waste materials. When you are ready to start composting the first thing you should do is create a base layer within your container, the best way to do this is to mix the materials with twigs or stones to create a good drainage system.

Once the base layer is done it's time to start gradually adding your waste materials, to get the best compost you should mix both green and brown waste:

GREEN WASTE INCLUDES: grass, vegetable peels, leafy vegetables, tea bags, nettles and green leaves.

BROWN WASTE INCLUDES: cardboard, egg boxes, egg shells, corks, newspapers, straw, wood shavings and autumn leaves (brown leaves).

When this is done you will need to keep gradually adding to the waste materials over the next 6-12 months,  once ready there will be a number of ways the compost could benefit your garden:

• It will condition you lawn-spreading compost lightly over a lawn will feed it, improving its quality.
• It will benefit potted plants and seeds- combining soil with compost will create perfect growing conditions and vital nutrients.
• It will condition your soil- mixing compost with soil will create a better consistancy and feed the soil, improving it's quality.