top of page
  • Peter Tapscott

Compost compost compost


I often have conversations about composting with clients and I am always delighted to say that it is the best thing you can do for your garden. Veges love the organic material and immediately pay you back for your thoughtful distribution of it.


We have a large and productive vege patch and orchard and I use a combination of sealed compost bins and open bays to make sure I always have a supply of compost ready for use.


I throw all of our household veg waste into the compost bins, together with some dry material (eg leaves, sawdust, old sugarcane mulch) and in a couple of months the bin is ready to tip out and put on my hungry produce. It is a simple process and the rewards are abundantly evident. It's also great fun seeing all the worm activity.


I also use a 3 bay open system. Each bay is about 1m3 in size (but it can be as small as you have room for) and enables me to throw in prunings, raked up leaves, finished veg, eg tomato plants, brassicas, corn, broad beans, basically anything that can be broken down. Also don't forget that manure can help speed up decomposition as the worms love to get into it and the more worms you have the faster you get compost to use. The trick to a quicker turnover is to make your compost material as small as possible, so just put it in a pile and run your lawn mower over it. It's a quick and very effective method.


The 3 bay system allows me to always have some mulch ready for use. So in summary I have a build bay, a store bay and a use bay.


Keep turning it over with a hand compost corkscrew

or mini auger you can attach to a hand drill and lastly don't let it dry out. The worms will quickly disappear if the material is not kept moist.


Compost also has the benefit of improving the quality of your soil. It aerates and allows moisture to be retained, so what are you waiting for? Get composting for a great vege harvest.

3 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page