Posted by EBement | Posted in gardening | Posted on 16-12-2011
Tags: compost tumblers, garden compost, garden composter
Organic gardening is not simply an excuse to neglect your garden, or an excuse to waste extra money on “organic” feeds, fertilizers and other garden products. Home composting really should be at the heart of all moves towards organic gardening. Heck, even if you have no interest in green living, or going organic you should still be making compost at home anyway!
Yes, compost is work, but it is so worth it. I have been composting at home for too long to say. I’ve done it in small urban gardens where a compost tumbler was essential for keeping things tidy (and the compost coming quickly), and on huge vegetable plots with simple home-made brick compost heaps that could never keep up with the demand of all those vegetables!
It doesn’t matter whether you have a small flower bed or a huge vegetable plot, the benefits of home composting are more than worth the effort:
- by recycling your organic waste you reduce your impact on the environment by sending less to land-fill or incinerators.
- you reduce the need for additional fertilizers since compost is full of the nutrients needed by plants.
- you can reduce the need for watering, weeding and mulching by applying a generous layer of your home produced compost to the soil.
- by making your plants strong and healthy you will reduce the need for pest and disease control products.
- you simply get to be a slightly more “smug” gardening, by knowing you are doing your bit!
Home composting might seem like a hassle at first. If you read much about it, you might feel it is all rather complicated, what with finding the perfect mix of ingredients, and the right temperature. In truth, if you leave a pile of organic waste long enough it will compost down naturally over time, and it takes very little to help this process along.
A good mixture of brown (think woody plant material, paper and card) and green (think vegetable peelings and grass clippings), plus plenty of insulation in colder climates should see your compost heap working it’s magic in no time!