How To Build A Compost Heap – One Way or Another…

Compost can be made on a piece of open ground in the corner of your garden by heaping up layers of organic matter and soil. However, some type of container is preferable to make the pile more attractive or to prevent scattering of the material. That’s where a compost bin is useful. 

You can spend large sums of money and time on purchasing and building a compost bin. However, it is not necessary to do this as there are a number of cheaper alternatives that work just as well.

Ideally, a compost pile must be at least 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall, otherwise it dries out. And it can be any length.

1. Concrete Blocks.

Concrete blocks aren’t particularly cheap, but they will last forever.  Sometimes you can find seconds, if you’re near a production plant or demolition site. They are not normally reused after a building is taken down and can be hauled off for free but check first before removing.

Stack the blocks in any shape that suits your plot. They could be laid in place with mortar as a wall but stacking without mortar works well too. Stack them with the holes vertical on most of the blocks, turning a few with the holes horizontal for ventilation.  You can build several bins in a row and save materials by having common interior walls.

2. Wooden slatted bin

Construction is of alternating, stacked 2 x 4′s on each of the four sides of the bin. Cut 3 foot lengths of 2 x 4′s, five for each of the four sides. The 2 x 4′s are stacked with the 4 inch dimension vertical. Holes are drilled in the corner of each piece so a 3/8 inch rod can be in each corner to hold it together. Concrete reinforcing rod will be good. You can leave the ends of the
2 x 4′s as-is. Or you can cut notches in the ends of half the 2 x 4′s so they nest together like a log house.

3. Stacked Wooden Poles.

If you have plenty of poles around your place, you can stack them to make 4 walls. Drill holes in the ends of the poles like the Wooden bin and secure the corners with a 3 foot, or whatever length, section of rod.

4. Leaf Mold Bin.

A 30 inch wide piece of 2 x 4 inch mesh welded wire is formed into a 30 inch diameter circle and the ends are fastened together. You can use wider wire and you can make the diameter larger too. You could line the inside with black mulching sheet but it isn’t necessary. Add your organic matter and allow it to settle and continue to add material until settling has slowed. Cover the bin with plastic for protection. Since you won’t be turning the material allow plenty of time for decomposition.

5. Canvas sack

Support a canvas sack (as used by builders merchants when delivering bulk sand and ballast) on a frame made with old pallets. Fill the sack with your organic material and cover if necessary. Turn out when composted.

So, there you have it. Five cheap and simple compost containers. 

Technorati Tags: canvas sack, compost, compost bin, compost heap, concrete blocks, poles, slatted bin

Making organic gardening compost is a way to turn kitchen waste products into a valuable resource for your garden.

Why?

Organic gardening compost provides many requirements for the organic gardener. So much so that it’s tempting to argue that no organic gardener should ever be without his own organic compost pile. Making your own compost isn’t just a gardening issue. It has implications for the conservation of valuable energy, reducing pollution, protecting the environment, feeding your family, reducing waste and many other ‘green’ ideals.

Often, valuable organic gardening compost can be made from household kitchen waste that would otherwise end up in landfill sites.  Burying valuable raw composting materials like this in a landfill space is both wasteful and environmentally unacceptable. Making your own compost is just a simple step you can take to make a valuable product from waste and an equally valuable contribution to your local environment.

It’s easy to build a compost, but to build the best product requires both knowledge and skill. Composting is a process of decomposition involving bacteria, fungi, nematodes, worms and many other organisms that work on organic matter and break it down. This normally happens slowly in a natural environment. Compost makers are used to speed up that natural process to quickly make usable compost in large quantities (wherever possible) for your garden.

By making and using compost, you can add nutrients and structure to your soil. Compost improves water holding capacity. It encourages the formation of beneficial soil-borne organisms and it also makes soil nutrients more available to your plants. Organic gardening compost is useful when starting and planting seeds and young trees. It’s helpful for general soil improvement and it improves the growth of flowers and vegetables, perennials, shrubs, soft fruit, fruit trees and lawns. You can use it as mulch and for potting plants and seedlings.

But how do you get started?

How?

Build your compost so that it has contact with the soil or mix some soil with the compost material added. The organisms in the soil contact the compost pile and enter into the process. A well built compost pile doesn’t attract pests, nor smell particularly.

Compost bins are helpful to contain the materials, but not at all necessary. Prepare an area for accumulation of the raw materials for the compost pile preferably with easy access to the rest of your garden. Wooden compost bins help in keeping your raw material confined and if you can have three or four bins ‘brewing’ at the same time. 

What goes in the compost bin? The supply of compost materials is almost limitless. Anything that is biodegradable and contains things usable and available to microorganisms can be composted. The ideal carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) for stimulating the composting organisms is 25:1 – 30:1. Finished compost is 14:1 – 20:1.

High carbon materials are usually dry and bulky. Examples are hay, straw, autumn leaves, sawdust and pine needles. The C/N ratio varies from 500:1 for sawdust to 12:1 for alfalfa hay. High nitrogen materials include animal manures, grass clippings, table scraps, fish waste, seaweed, general garden waste, weeds, etc. Other useful additives can bolster the micro-nutrients of the finished compost. Examples are limestone, phosphates, sand, and bonfire ash.

We are trying to start and maintain a controlled aerobic fermentation process when we build compost. Generally, if we mix roughly one part of high carbon materials and two parts of high nitrogen materials, the C/N ratio will be about right. In living topsoil, only about half the total volume of the soil is solid. The remainder is air and water. Our organic gardening compost should be like that too. So the particle size of our material is best fairly fine. Grind or chip very coarse materials like tough vegetable stalks and twigs if you can. If you can’t, don’t worry about it, it’ll just take longer. Particle size can be from dust-like up to 1/2 inch in size.

The pile should be moist to the touch, but not so wet that you can squeeze water out by hand. Layer in the materials alternating high carbon materials with high nitrogen materials in the ratio as shown above. Add 5 – 10 percent garden soil throughout the pile. Layers can be 6 inches deep or so.

Build compost piles well and microorganisms grow rapidly and temperature will quickly climb. Temperatures can spike up to 170F over a few days or weeks. The temperature will then drop off but remain elevated for a few days or up to several weeks or even months. Turning the pile can speed or slow the reactions especially if the mix is less than ideal. If the mix is right, the pile need not be turned or it may need turning only once.

Do not worry, even if conditions are far from ideal you’ll still get usable compost. Remember, this is a natural process. If the compost pile doesn’t heat up much, it will just take longer to decompose and the quality may be slightly inferior. Maybe weed seeds will still be viable but, it will still do the soil good!

The Way Organic Waste Turns Out To Be Some of The Greatest Compost

How to Make Organic Compost. There is certainly a lot of discussion in this day and age about the topic of organics and the meaning of the term organic waste.  

Outside/In: Another Compost Post

If you don’t, you can actually use compost as the soil where you put your plants. Our local garden shops, and actually a couple of grocery stores, are now selling organic compost for…

Technorati Tags: bacteria, carbon, decomposition, fungi, humus, landfill, nitrogen, organic compost, soil

Most gardeners would assume that there were many types of organic gardening such as organic vegetable gardening or organic flower gardening. However, many people have no idea what organic gardening really is. Organic gardening is often assumed to refer to growing plants, vegetables, etc. without using pesticides or other harmful chemicals.  As we have seen, this is just one element of true organic gardening.

Most people believe that organic gardening offers many health benefits and that organically grown food is much better for the human body than food grown with pesticides and chemicals. The massive proliferation in availability of organic produce in supermarkets is a testament to this. With such health concerns in place, it only makes sense to grow your fruits and vegetables organically, in your very own organic garden.

 There are a number of other initiatives that are worthy of consideration in your organic garden and we will look at these now.

Collect Your Own Rainwater

This is one of the simplest things that the organic gardener can do. You will need to purchase a water butt from your local garden centre. These will be used to collect rainwater either from the roof of an adjacent out-building or alternatively from the roof of the greenhouse using a simple collecting device. By collecting rainwater you are conserving water resources and further, you can use your kitchen waste water too.

Some organic gardening growers hook up elaborate systems of hosepipes to their rain collection butts and the system then waters the organic garden automatically. For a less elaborate system, you can easily use a small bucket to scoop the water from the butt or better yet, get a butt with a tap on it, to water your organic garden by hand with a watering can. This method allows you to target the place where the water is needed the most.

All Natural Fertiliser

A great natural fertiliser for organic gardening can come from using compost. Compost will help improve the structure of your soil and at the same time help increase the soils water-retentive properties. The best part about using compost for organic gardening is that it is free. Every organic gardener should have a few compost bins strategically placed in their garden. You can start one easily by beginning to collect grass clipping, leaves, etc.

Mulch 

A simple, yet often overlooked technique is to use mulch. By using organic material to mulch around your flower beds and trees, you will conserve water, add humus and nutrients, and discourage weeds. 

By using these three simple organic gardening methods, not only will you be producing more healthy and nutritious plants, you will also be doing your part for the environment by not using chemicals or pesticides. Oh, and the vegetables that you grow will taste infinitely better than the ones you buy. For me, that is the biggest advantage of all!

Waste compost trial at Lafarge a big success

Waste compost trial at Lafarge a big success – A RECYCLED compost made from green household and amenity waste such as grass cuttings, prunings and leaves has proved a resounding success

How to Compost: the Complete Guide

Call me a dirt girl, but I’ve always loved composting.

How is it Good Compost is Beneficial for Gardening

Composting is defined as the single most important process for a very healthy garden as it is a process that naturally returns all the goodness back into the soil.

 Mail this post

Technorati Tags: compost, fertiliser, mulch, organic gardener, organic methods, plants, rain water, vegetables

I will reply to all messages as soon as possible.

John N Shaw

Technorati Tags: contact, Contact Me, contact us

The Latin words hortus (garden plant) and cultura (culture) together form horticulture, classically defined as the culture or growing of garden plants. Horticulture is also sometimes defined simply as “agriculture minus the plough.” Instead of the plough, horticulture makes use of human labour and the gardener’s cultivation tools.

Mulches, cover crops, compost, manures, and ground-rock mineral supplements are soil-building mainstays. Through care and good soil condition, it is hoped that insect, fungal,or other problems that sometimes plague plants can be avoided. However, pheromone traps, insecticidal soap sprays, and other pest-control methods available to organic farmers are also sometimes used by organic gardeners.

Organic gardening is based upon the knowledge and techniques gathered over thousands of years. In general terms, organic gardening involves natural processes, often taking place over extended periods of time, combined with an holistic approach – while chemical-based horticulture focuses on immediate, isolated effects and reductionist strategies.

And I know which I prefer.

Need Organic Gardening Information?

Organic gardening to grow good organic food is one of the most popular forms of gar…   Read more…

Controlling Pests With Organic Gardening

More and more people today are doing organic gardening and prefer not to use pesticides. Not …   Read more…

Technorati Tags: compost, culture, fungi, heirloom seeds, heritage species, hortus, insect, Organic Gardening, organic horticulture