Garden Composter - How to Make Compost with your Garden Compost Bin

How to make compost is the big question! As already discussed at Garden Composter nature is making compost all the time. Nature is making it out of everything which was once alive. Moulds, bacteria, small organisms, insects, rain and sun are all acting on this organic matter to break it down. The constituent parts are then available for new living things to use, absorb, live or feed on. We need to make sure we use our garden composter to its full potential. Whatever kind garden compost bin you use, you need to know how to make garden compost with it.

When making garden compost at home, we want to do exactly the same, only much more quickly.

What to Put in the Garden Compost Bin?

The first key point to consider is perhaps what to compost? Now of course anything once alive can be composted. But lets be practical here, no deceased pets please! But the golden rule when considering what to put in the garden compost bin, should be 'was it once alive?'. If the answer is yes, it should seriously be considered for addition to your bin. We will look more closely at the different sorts of things you can compost in future posts. But at least think about composting kitchen waste, paper and cardboard, recycling garden waste and composting manure.

Variety - Layer the Contents of the Garden Compost Bin

The second key point about making good, rich hummus from your garden compost bin is that the contents should be varied. You really need to think about layering the compost bin. No, one thing should take up too much volume in a single lump. That way, lies fermentation, stagnation and failure. The biggest culprit is often lawn clippings. Grass is useful to give regular bursts of green, fresh mass to the heap. But in too large quantities it does have the rather nasty habit of condensing into a slimy mess, at best silage, at worst stinky stuff that stops the whole composting process working.

Always, always, always layer your additions to the garden compost bin. For the really keen garden composter with lots of space and time this may mean making lots of piles of different 'ingredients' and alternating their addition to the heap. For example collecting all the grass clippings into one pile, and sprinkling a little into the compost bin, after each batch of kitchen waste would be the ideal scenario. Alongside could be a pile of manure to sprinkle on top of that, followed by shredded cardboard and shredded hedge trimmings.

But lets be practical, most of us have neither the space or inclination to devote to our compost bins . All we need to do is avoid huge quantities of one thing. If you really cannot avoid putting an awful lot of grass on the heap in one go what about forking small pockets into the heap and putting the grass in those. Or add the grass clippings to the compost bin, but then fork it all up to dig in the grass and mix the whole heap as you go. Or you could save some kitchen scraps over a few days and add those as you add the grass. Best of all, maybe do your pruning the same day you mow and you can mix shredded woody matter with the grass! Or clear the leaves and add those too.

You see what I'm getting at, the garden composter needs variety. Whether you manage lots of piles of different compost building materials or just have a root around in the garden compost bin, when you add stuff depends on you. But the more you can make sure the compost bin is varied throughout the better, and quicker, your compost will be. Adding your ingredients to the bin in layers is the accepted 'best practice' for making compost.

Size of Compost Ingredients in the Garden Composter

Remember size matters! The smaller all the 'bits' in your garden compost bin are, the more overall surface area there will be. That means more surface area for the tools of decomposition; all those microbes and insects, to work on.

So whenever practical, shred, tear or chop anything you add to the compost heap. That way you let the whole thing work more quickly. This is particularly important for those ingredients that are slow to break down. Egg-shells for example are notoriously slow to decompose, but are full of minerals and texture useful for the compost. Make sure you roughly crush the shells before putting them on the heap. That way there is lots more surface area to get acted upon and you are a lot less likely to see egg-shells in the finished hummus!

It is good not to get too picky though. A few woodier, lumpier bits and bobs keep air flowing through the heap and stop it all compacting. So as ever, keep the compost varied!

Climate - Where is your Garden Composter?

The climate will have an important effect on your garden compost bins speed and efficiency at breaking down all that lovely rich garden compost. So it is important to think about insulating the heap from weather extremes. I don't mean you'll need insulation foam but you do need to be practical. If you are using a contained garden compost bin you have much less to worry about than those with open compost heaps.

If its bitterly cold and windy maybe a more solid structure would work better than say a wire cage surround. Bricks have good insulation value, with all their air holes and may be more suited to keeping in the heat than flimsy wood. If its hot and dry where you are, consider putting a tarpaulin over the heap to stop it drying out through evaporation. If it is continually raining a tarp could stop it getting soaked through! In more average weather an old carpet will let some moisture in, but also allow more to roll off the compost heap and stop moisture loss through evaporation.

You want the compost heap to be damp but fresh, not a stagnant smelly place. You want air to get in so mixing up all the ingredients so different densities and sizes of matter are spread throughout is the best method.

To keep the air circulating, stand the garden composter on open ground whenever possible. This speeds up the whole process as all the organisms vital to the success of your garden compost bin can be found in soil. Stand you bin on soil and those organisms can easily reach the compost. And, be sure to arrange some large matter at the bottom. A pile of twigs or a few bricks will allow air to get underneath the whole thing.

The main things to think about then when planning your garden composter are:

• What to put in the compost bin
• Varying the contents or layering the compost
• Surface area of compost ingredients
• Allowing air to circulate both in and around the compost bin
• Allowing moisture in moderation into the compost bin.
  

I hope this has given you some tips for how to make compost with your garden composter, the main thing is not to get too bogged down in technicalities - nature does okay and so will you!