Follow our handy step by step guide below to get started composting at home!
Find out how to get the right mix, and check out insightful video tutorials by composting guru Nicky Scott!
Step By Step Guide
Step One – Choose a location for your bin
A compost bin, or heap, is best sited on soil but can work on concrete. It is important to add the right mixture of materials and light sprinklings of healthy soil (or manure), which introduce the micro-organisms required to get the composting process going. Placing the bin in a sunny location will speed up the process, but it will also work in the shade. Place your bin anywhere that’s convenient, but not too close to your house!
Step Two – Start adding your materials
Anything that has recently lived can be composted, but care needs to be taken with certain materials, including meat and fish. The most common materials composted are: fruit and vegetable trimmings, grass cuttings and garden waste. In addition to these, you can compost small amounts of paper and cardboard.
Step Three – Fill up your bin and give it time!
Once your kitchen caddy/container is full, empty this into your bin. Try to get a 50/50 mix of greens and browns, as this creates the best compost.
Greens
Vegetable peelings
Fruit waste (and other food waste, depending on your composter)
Old flowers and weeds
Grass cuttings / hedge clippings
Fresh leaves
Browns
Straw
Wood shavings/pellets (depending on your composter)
Cardboard / scrunched up paper
Small twigs
Dead leaves
It takes between 9 and 12 months for the composting process to be complete, so just be patient and keep adding your greens and browns to the top of the bin.
Step Four – It’s ready to use!
After 9 to 12 months your compost should be ready. It will have turned into a crumbly, dark material which gives off an earthy, fresh aroma. Lift the compost bin slightly, or open the hatch, and fork out the nice earthy mixture.
Your compost is ideal for garden beds, veg patches, hanging baskets and as a soil improver.
Getting the right recipe
To have a successful compost heap, you need to ensure you get the right mix of both brown dry material (cardboard, leaves, egg shells) and green wet material (garden trimmings, peelings and pulps). It’s important that this balance is kept to prevent your heap from becoming too wet or too dry.
From not the right mix to unwanted visitors, find out how to fix common home composting issues here.
