These articles are all about composts, composting and making compost. For a start there is a lot of confusion about what compost actually is and how to use it for best results. Even the dictionary has two definitions for the noun ‘compost’:
Decayed organic material used as a fertilizer for growing plants
A mixture of compost or similar material with loam soil used as a growing medium.
Home-made compost is mainly best used as a soil improving fertiliser although you can make your own growing mediums for seeds and potting instead of buying bags of commercial compost from the garden centre.
Hopefully these articles will explain exactly what various composts are and explain the different methods of composting and how to make composts, seed composts & potting composts etc.
There are whole books on how to make compost but it's essentially simple and easy. The basic method I use for garden waste is a refinement on the method promoted in the Dig for Victory campaign of WW2.
The benefit of this method of making compost...
Compost is the engine that keeps our gardens and allotments productive. To make compost, a compost bin is ideal. You can often buy a compost bin cheaply from your local council but you can also build your own compost bin for next to nothing - except a...
Building compost bins from pallets has to be the quickest and easiest way to produce a pair of serviceable compost bins.
You will need 7 pallets of roughly the same size, some scrap wood, wire, nails and cardboard.
Pallets come in different...
Cardboard and paper can be a valuable resource for the gardener. Being rich in carbon it is useful for balancing compost ingredient. Used directly as part of a mulch system it suppresses weeds and improves soil quality.
What Cardboard & Paper...
There's a rat in the compost, what am I gonna do! (apologies to UB40)
I was asked if it was safe to use compost on vegetables from a heap where there had been rats.
I've heard it said that you're never more than 10 feet from a rat in the...
I was asked this question; My compost heap is overrun by ants – can I use the compost to earth up potatoes and for other uses?
The simple answer is yes, compost infested with ants is fine for earthing up potatoes and other outdoor uses.
Ants N...
Having had a hotbin composter for a while now, I'm convinced it is something that every house should have - efficiently converting most kitchen waste as well as green garden waste into excellent compost. It takes no more room than a fridge and doesn't...
These articles are all about composts, composting and making compost. For a start there is a lot of confusion about what compost actually is and how to use it for best results. Even the dictionary has two definitions for the noun ‘compost’:
