How To Make Compost

How to Make compost from scratch that will enrich your vegetable garden in only 10-12 weeks.

Don’t spend endless money on fertilisers and chemicals when you can learn how to make compost crawling with millions of micro-organisms packed full of all the nutrients needed, that will bring life back into your soil.

Ingredients

Manure,                                   Old leaves,

Mature compost,                      grass clippings,

Small twigs,                              Lucerne hay

small clippings (larger pieces need to go through the garden mulcher)

Mulch or straw.                      Water,

Lime,                                      rock phosphate

Seaweed meal                       

Using a layering method to make the compost pile in an open space, but this method can be adapted to 3 or 4 sided compost bin.

How to make a compost pile?

Firstly, collect all of the ingredients ready to start making your compost. It is a lot easier if everything is close by before you start.

Begin by piling some Lucerne hay straight on the top of the ground.

Then add a fine layer of mulch

Keynote: each time you add a layer be sure to wet thoroughly before adding the next layer.

Then add a fine sprinkle of manure over the mulch wetting down the pile as you go , then the next layer of mulch about 10 cm(4-5 inches) thick.

Top tip: test the moisture levels of your compost by squeezing a handful, you should get a drop or two from it - not a stream.

Then add a fine sprinkle of lime over the mulch wetting down the mulch as you go, then mulch layer over the top.

Then adding some rock phosate to the pile.

Followed by mulch & then a layer of manure.

Keep adding layer after layer until you reach about 1 metre in height (3 feet).

Regarding grass clippings, add to the pile instead of a layer of mulch every so often. The same with small clippings just replace a layer of mulch.

Add a sprinkling of seaweed meal & mature compost as a layer about half way through the pile.

Adding some mature (finished) compost to the pile, will introduce a wide range of micro-organisms that will assist in breaking down the compost into a rich dark humus, finished product should have an earthy odour.

You can add old leaves to the pile or weeds or even a few food scraps. The pile will heat up to about 65-70 degrees in the first 3-5 days, which will kill any weed seeds that may be in the pile.

Earth worms & other beneficial organisms will move into the compost pile after the first 2 weeks. That will start to break down the pile & mix everything together as they work into the compost.

After 6 weeks, turn the pile, if the pile is dry then add some more water to the compost. The compost will be ready in another 4-6 weeks time. When finished the compost will be cool, dark, rich humus that contains many beneficial soil organisms.

You will be surprised of the quality of compost that you can make. A little bit of planning & elbow grease (manual labour) is all it takes to make your own compost.

Key Points On How To Make Compost

Always add manure or any other natural fertiliser between layers of mulch

Add plenty of water to the pile after adding each new layer.

Pile should heat up to 65-70 degrees in first 3-5 days.

Each handful of compost contains millions of micro-organisms. Add the finish product to your vegetable garden, then fork into the soil or cover with a mulch & let the earth worms take the compost down into the soil.

Recommended reading is this great book by Rod Turner

"The worlds best compost"Click Here!

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