There is an entire universe deep within compost.
When I first got serious about making a vegetable garden, I, like most new gardeners, bought bags and bags of rich, black compost.
The smell of the broken down organic matter, the feel of it in my hands, and how it stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the soil, always made me excited for the new plants that would soon be tucked away in it.
But within a couple of years, my focus turned to making it so I could always have it close at hand.
It wasn’t only the price that brought about a fundamental shift in my thoughts about compost, it was also a conversation that I had with my husband’s friend that got me thinking.
We were talking about homesteading and becoming self-sufficient when he said that the main goal of such a lifestyle should be to close the circle, and one facet of that meant recycling garden waste and turning it into compost.
Since then, I have been fascinated and quite blown away by compost and I want to give you some information that you can use to start your own nutritious heap of hummus.
What is compost?
Compost is decayed organic matter, i.e. rotten leaves, vegetable scraps, wood, sticks, etc.
Think of compost as a type of fertilizer that is so much more than a fertilizer. While it certainly boosts the soil’s nutrients, compost also builds the soil by adding structure to it. You can turn sandy and clay soils into lush loam by adding compost to it. Building soil is a slow process but it is one of the best things you will ever do for it.
Making your own compost will bring you back to nature in a way that you never even thought you were missing. It allows you a front row seat to critters and organisms, things that don’t even register on our busy radar, hard at work, breaking down whatever we feed them.
Another way of thinking of it is that everything alive will one day return to the soil and generally, whatever returns to the soil nurtures it by adding back much needed nutrients.
Why it is worth creating your own compost in South Africa?
Bags of bought compost are not teaming with life, at least not to the naked eye.
In contrast, your own homemade compost is literally crawling with bugs, snails, and the most incredible bacteria, all with a common goal and the compost is the end result of them breaking down all that organic goodness you’ve put in your compost heap.
Aside from getting to watch nature at work, there is a financial incentive to having a compost heap.
Having compost in your garden is a great way to save money. Unless you are trying to fill out huge spaces, your homegrown compost should be more than enough to give you a steady, free supply.
A compost heap will also make you more food conscious. When I first placed a composting box on my kitchen sink, to collect food scraps, I started thinking more about how I cook and what I waste.
Suddenly those grapes that were about to go off in the fridge were looking really tasty to me and beans I harvested and had left almost too long in the fridge were used up in a stew.
A compost heap will make you rethink your waste and instead of filling up more plastic bin bags, your kitchen scraps and old food suddenly become a part of your very own ecosystem.
And I promise, the first time you take compost from your heap, you will be so filled with excitement and awe that the little bit of effort it took to make it will be forgotten.
How to Make Compost – An Easy Step by Step Guide
You don’t need to invest much money or resources into creating your compost bin.
My first compost heap was made from pieces of metal fencing and a big bit of pool plastic. I emptied the bin at the start of spring one year and decided I needed more compost space, so my gardener, my mother and I built a bigger one out of left over bricks we had.
No cement, no hours of labouring, just our hands and bricks stacked in a square against a wall at the bottom of our garden.
What you need to get started
Before you run to Builders Warehouse or shop online for expensive Bokashi bins or compost heap materials, look at what you have laying around or phone some friends and family and ask what they have.
A bricked off compost heap has been a wonderful thing to have, because it is cheap and because I can expand it as needed. I would suggest using brick instead of plastic or wood. Plastic can become brittle and since the compost will need to stay moist, wood will eventually rot unless you are using a well-treated hardwood, which will cost a bit if you don’t just have it on hand.
You can start your heap by throwing in all of your garden waste. You can break big sticks and branches for easier composting, everything else, like grass cuttings and leaves, can just be added as is.
If you want to speed up the process or if you want to give the heap some help, you can buy compost activator at many garden shops. I have used activator once, at the end of winter, but I didn’t notice much difference.
Where to place it
The proper placement of a compost heap is not just about the aesthetics. Compost is a living thing so it needs some sunlight although semi shade can be better than full sun as constant direct sunlight can dry out the compost and kill all the good guys living in it.
If you only have a full sun area, make sure you cover the compost with plastic or some other kind of cover. Keep in mind that if you are keeping it covered, you will have to once in a while wet the heap, as it won’t be getting much rain.
Compost heaps shouldn’t smell.
At least, they shouldn’t smell rotten.
But since your heap will attract bugs and even the odd rat (something I was spooked by one morning), you don’t want the heap on your doorstep.
You should, however, consider putting the compost area somewhere close to where you will use it, especially if you are working with a huge garden space, or else you will spend a lot of time walking back and forth instead of gardening.
Dos and don’ts
It is hard to get a compost bin “wrong” and in the event that the bin is not working for you, you can always fix the issue without losing your compost.
Here’s a checklist of things you should do when making your compost heap:
- Place it on bare soil. This will help the goodness of the earth beneath it to get into your compost and work its magic.
- Turn it regularly. Get a big fork, ignore the spiders, and get stuck in there. Some resources say you should turn your heap once a day until it turns into compost while others say once a week. The reason for turning your compost is that it aids with aeration and it helps to maintain the heat of the compost. I told you compost is a living thing, and let me tell you, it gets hot in there (compost can get as hot as 40 to 66 degrees Celsius!). But don’t be alarmed, the heat is necessary for the breakdown of the organic matter.
- Cover your food scraps. Whenever you are composting kitchen leftovers or veg that has gone off, cover the food stuffs with a layer of brown leaves or garden refuse. This will help it all breakdown faster and it can help to prevent rodents from finding the tasty treats.
- Make you bin at least a meter by a meter. You can increase the space as you need to, but this is a good starting size.
Now that you have some tips to get you started, here’s a checklist of things you should not do when making your compost:
- Don’t add any weeds with seed. Any seeds you have in your compost have a really good chance of growing in your garden when you use the compost.
- You shouldn’t let it get too wet, or too dry. While there is not a lot you can do if it is a heavy rain season, you can try to keep the moisture at a happy medium.
- Try not to add big chunky bits of garden refuse. Instead, snap the branches and cut up any wood you add. This will help it to break down faster.
- Don’t expect instant results. It can take a few weeks to a few months to get the best quality compost.
What to and what not put in the heap
Not everything deserves a spot in your compost. In fact, some waste can be downright deadly to the composting process or it will result in unusable compost.
Here is what you can and what you can’t put into your compost heap.
Add these:
- Apple Cores
- Avocado Pits/Peels
- Banana Peels (this will add potassium)
- Beer
- Wax and Plastic Free Cardboard boxes and toilet paper rolls
- Coffee Filters & Grounds
- Compostable utensils and cups
- Dead Leaves
- Eggshells (this will add extra calcium to the soil, your tomatoes will love it!)
- Flowers (both bought bouquets and dead headed flowers from the garden)
- Fresh Leaves (from pruning and garden cleanup)
- Herbs
- Manure (from rabbits, cows, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, etc.)
- Paper
- Paper Towels and Serviettes
- Popcorn
- Pumpkins (don’t be surprised if the seeds sprout from your compost. Some of your best veg will probably grow from your compost bin.)
- Sawdust (use sparingly in the compost pile, as wood can affect the pH of the compost and your soil)
- Newspaper (but not the shiny ads)
- Nut Shells (except walnut)
- Spices
- Tea Bags & Loose Tea
- Toothpicks
- Tree Bark
- Twigs & Sticks
- Vegetable Scraps (put a bin on your sink so you remember to compost your scraps)
- Wood Ash
- Wool
Do not add these:
- Anything treated with Chemical Fertilizers or Pesticides
- Cat & Dog Waste
- Citrus Peels (they take a long time to break down and since they are acidic they can disrupt the pH level of the compost)
- Dairy Products
- Diseased Plants (burn the plants instead)
- Nappies and Personal Hygiene Products
- Glossy or Coated Paper
- Meat, Fish, & Bones (these will make the compost stink and attract rodents)
- Oil, Oily Foods or Grease
- Onions & Garlic (for the same reason as citrus, but small amounts, like cut offs, are fine)
- Plastic, Metal, Glass, or Polystyrene
- Pasta, Bread or Rice (only because it can attract pests like rats).
- Weedy plants and Weed Seeds
When is it time to use the compost?
Are you tired of me saying that compost is a living thing? I’m sorry, but it has to be said again, because this compost characteristic is a deciding factor for when you can dig in and start using it.
Compost is constantly heating up and then cooling off. This process is so important because some organisms are heat loving while things link fungi, which also play an important role, need cooler temperatures to thrive.
If this balance doesn’t happen your compost won’t be worth using because most of the good stuff will be killed off from being too hot or too cold.
There are 4 phases of composting; the mesophilic phase (1), the thermophilic phase (2), the cooling phase (3) and the curing phase (4).
The curing phase is the longest. During this phase the compost starts settling.
This is the most important phase because if you don’t wait until it is complete the compost might be ineffective or even harmful to your plants.
A rule of thumb for checking if the compost is ready (fully cured), is to smell it and to have a good look at it. When the compost smells earthy and looks dark brown and crumbly, it is ready to be used. The pile should also have reduced in size.
Compost can take between a few weeks, to 3 months, to a year to get to the point where it is ready to use. It can become ready a lot sooner, during the hot and humid, rainy summer months (if you are here in the Lowveld for instance).
Composting Problems
Technically, it is difficult to run into problems with your compost. But here are some of the most common compost issues you might run into in your journey:
- It stinks – This could be a sign that the compost is not getting enough oxygen and a simple fix is to turn the pile.
- It smells like ammonia – This means the compost pile has too much nitrogen (which happens if you have added too much nitrogen rich debris). To fix this, turn the pile and spread out the contents a little.
- It doesn’t heat up – Know that only new heaps and piles that are turned regularly remain warm. To solve this, if yours isn’t new is, you guessed it, to turn the pile. You can also add to the pile to kick start the decomposition process. Another reason the pile is not warm could be that it has too much moisture. Grab a handful and squeeze, if it drips your heap is water logged and you will need to turn it daily, or wait for dry weather, to get rid of that water. Finally, if all else fails, add some nitrogen in the form of blood meal or nitrogen rich plant cuttings.
- It is overheating – A warm compost bin is great, but if it is too warm it will kill the good stuff. Again, you will need to turn it daily until it cools off.
Finally, you might find that your compost heap lacks the necessary microorganisms needed to create the compost. A common sign that this is an issue in your bin is a lack of heat that you can’t contribute to anything else. In this case, you might want to buy some activator.
