Last autumn's beautifully coloured fallen leaves have become, dull, brown and lifeless looking on the end garden, however they still contain much goodness so we will leave them to continue rotting down.
Meanwhile we have been emptying a large composter, the earth inside is rich, black and sweet smelling, as many of you know I term this black gold and is the best treat the garden can have, so I have treated the end garden to a thick layer, partly to enrich the soil but also to help protect the plants from the frost and cold weather yet to come.
Compost is one of natures miracles, annual weeds and the leaves of perennial nuisance weeds, teabags, old vegetable peelings, orange peel, crushed egg shells, vacuum dust, torn pieces of newspaper and any other detritus which will rot down are all put together into the composter, with layers of cardboard for the worms to breed in. The lid is kept on except when we are in the garden, then it is removed so that the robin can feast on the contents.
Eventually the bin fills up and is left over a season when the magic occurs and on looking inside we find the black gold which is so useful.
I have had various comments about compost from people throughout the years, mostly of disgust or disdain, however I could never have a garden without making my own compost, it is so beneficial to the plants and such a soil enhancer. Compost properly made is a sheer joy, not only to make but also to use, and of course is free what an added bonus!
Mostly people say, "but isn't it smelly?" or "mine was all slimy" and occasionally "it brought rats into the garden".
The answers to these are simple, let's deal with them one at a time.
Firstly if the right ingredients have been added and the compost left for the correct time to rot down it will be sweet smelling, and pleasant to use. There is a school of thought that compost should be turned to aerate it, I have always made compost, but for the last 43 years it has been a more serious venture and never once in that time have I turned it or seen a need to do so.
Compost becomes slimy when too much of the wrong ingredients have been added or the compost has been allowed to get too wet. Slimy usually occurs when too many fresh grass cuttings have been added, these can be added but need to be layered with other material. I am a great believer in leaving grass cuttings on the lawn to nourish it if possible, especially in very dry weather, when it also protects the grass from drying out. The first cut when the grass is longer and other cuts, for instance if you have been unable to cut regularly and the grass is long, can be more problematical. In this case we collect the grass together in containers and layer it as we compost other things making sure there is plenty of torn newspaper added at the same time. Too much rain can also be a problem so I always keep my compost covered, it doesn't have to be with a lid I have found a piece of old carpet, covered by a board or even just on old board is fine with a brick or very large stone or rock to stop the wind lifting it.
The rat statement is more serious, and is caused by putting the wrong things on the compost heap or in the composter, never use cooked or processed food of any kind, this also goes for bones, as any of these will bring rats to your garden and should be avoided at all costs.
I always compost leaves separately in large black sacks as the compost from leaves is wonderful for sowing seeds in and bringing on plug or young plants.
Composting is a great way of recycling, easy to do and the end product is a joy.
I will be pleased to answer any questions, please use the comments section for this.
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