COMPOST

‘Plants give us oxygen for the lungs and for the soul’ Linda Solegato

Compost is a source of food for our plants and it is simple and very satisfying to make your own.

Composting made easy step by step. You should have lovely crumbly rich compost between six to ten weeks.

·          First clear a space make sure all weeds and grass roots have been removed. Remember not to put your compost heap to close to the house. If you have a vegetable garden this would be a handy place to put it.

·          Then add a layer of twigs and course pruning this layer will help with the heat build up

·          Add leaves, vegetable peelings, lawn mowing.

·          Cover this layer with manure, then cut grass

·          Water the top and let it all soak in

·          Wonderful natural compost activators are yarrow and comfrey so throw a few of these leaves in as often as you can.

·          Then repeat the process as simple as that no more Saturday trips to the dump.

You can buy compost bins to contain your pile. Or you can build a low brick wall, you can use anything as long as it has an open bottom and good ventilation.

Things that are great to add onto your compost heap. Tea bags, egg shells, oyster shells, paper towels, newspaper, all your vegetable cuttings.

Things not to add to your compost heap are cooked food, dairy, fish, meat or pet waste. Here is a list of plants that also should not be added cypress, pines, eucalyptus, juniper and oleander these plants are either to acidic or highly toxic.