Composting

Compost making is easy so long as you are patient and follow a few rules.

• There are two compost bays in corner of the kitchen garden, one to be filled with this year’s green waste and the other for next years. Don’t be tempted to fill them both in the same year. The idea is to fill the one this year then leave it to rot down and start filling the other compost bay next year. By the following year the first compost heap should have rotted down and have good useable compost which can then be shared out amongst the beds. This bay then becomes empty allowing space to start a new pile. And so forth, there is always one of the bays being filled with the current seasons green waste while the other is left rotting down for Twelve months.

• The way the green waste is added to the pile can determine how quickly and efficiently it will turn to compost. Big thick cabbage stems for example will need chopping up to help rot down and no woody material should be added as it will slow the hole process down.

• It’s a bit like making a cake in that all the ingredients should be mixed up as much as possible this will keep air in the pile which helps with decomposition.

• Keep turning over the compost heap throughout the season with a garden fork and water the heap if we get very dry weather.
• A compost pile with a good mixture of ingredients, that is kept well aerated and moist will rot down to a lovely dark brown crumbly compost by the following spring. There is nothing better than homemade compost to put life into the soil and feed the plants.

• When turning your compost heap you will notice lots of little stripy worms, these are only found in compost heaps and their job is solely to help with decomposition. It’s a good idea to save a bit of the rotted compost containing these worms to start the new heap the following year.

• Be careful not to add weeds with seed heads and perennial roots as these can survive the composting process and can be reintroduced to the beds. If you stick to just using the green waste only from the veg you have grown and young weeds that have not gone to seeds, then you shouldn’t go wrong. The Loftus gardens may occasionally add grass cuttings to the heap which will help heat the pile up and speed up the whole process.

The head gardener is available to give advice on anything you’re not sure about.