W2B-035 Technology matters 3-1.txt
GARDENING diary
Turn on to compost

Do you throw away soil fertility with the household rubbish in the weekly bin-lift or do you make garden compost.

I don't mean do you deposit your grass and hedge clippings in a pile in some out-of-the-way corner. No, I mean do you actually produce compost?

Unless you are in the happy situation of having easy access to quantities of farm animal manure, there is no better and cheaper way of having a ready supply of soil-enriching material than turning garden and kitchen waste into compost.

There are many ways of making a compost "bin", the idea being to contain and keep tidy the compost materials and to speed up decomposition by aeration and retention of moisture.

One of the simplest methods of construction is to erect a square cage of netting wire, supported at the corners by stout posts driven into the ground.

Thick perforated plastic sheets e.g. cut out of large bags, can also be used for the sides of the "bin", stretched between the corner uprights. A more solid structure can be made of timber planks of suitable dimensions and built up and fitted together in a slatted fashion to allow spaces for ventilation e.g. boards 100cms (40ins)• 12cms (5ins) x 2cms (3/4 ins).

The use of bricks or breeze-blocks will make for an even more permanent structure if that is desireable. A height of about 1 1/4 metres (four feet) is convenient.

There are also many proprietary compost bins available, some with sliding sides to allow the compost to be shovelled out, others with devices to allow for tumbling to mix the ingredients.

The aim in compost making is to provide conditions which will enable decomposition to proceed as rapidly as possible. Materials should be well mixed.

Don't allow large quantities of one material, e.g. grass mowings or hedge clippings, to build up in one thick layer. This can slow up the heating process, as such layers can either become dank pancakes or open sandwiches. Put large quantities of such materials aside and add gradually to the heap, small amounts at a time.

The process of good compost-making generates a high temperature in the early stages - a few inches down from the top it may even be uncomfortably warm to the touch.

There is a host of materials which can be used Ð weeds, leaves, soft clippings, dead flowerheads, vegetable plot refuse, greenhouse refuse, potato vegetable and fruit peelings, tea-leaves, egg shells, shredded newspapers and spent potting compost.

Materials to avoid include woody material, vegetation, e.g. grass, which has been sprayed with hormone weed killer, persistent perennial weeds such as scutch grass and convolvulus, animal weeds which are in seed and are prolific in seed-shedding, and diseased and pest-ridden vegetation.

Additional nitrogen will speed-up the rotting-down process, encouraging the build-up of the micro-organisms, fungi and bacteria, which are associated with the breakdown of vegetable matter.

Farm manure is a splendid activator, added in layers as the heap is build up. Soil from a completed compost heap will do as a substitute. Sulphate of ammonia is also excellent, added at the rate of 1/2 oz per square metre over the surface, every 15 to 25cms (six to ten inches) layer. Or a proprietary compost activator may be used.

The dressing of sulphate of ammonia may be alternated with a dressing of lime at 3 to 4oz to counteract the acidity of the fertilizer. Don't add either of these materials directly onto farm manure, otherwise valuable nitrogen may be lost.

It is best to keep the top of the heap covered with an old piece of carpet, sacking or thick polythene Ð water can be applied if the heap shows a tendancy to dry out.

When the heap has reached its desired height, top off with an inch or two of soil.

Composting is a more rapid process in spring and summer. Try to have three compost heaps at various stages.

To turn all that miscellaneous material into a brown crumbly friable sweet-smelling soil in a matter of months Ð it's magic!
