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How to make good compost

Hello, 

 

          I am considering getting a compost bin, so that I can make my own compost for my vege patch.    My concern is the type of kitchen scraps I will use in it though,  because I have dogs and chickens, so most of my kitchen scraps go to them, leaving only citrus, onions and eggshells to go into the compost bin (together with newspaper, lawn clippings,and leaf litter etc).  Will the egg shells, onions and citrus make the resulting compost to bitter/ acidic or something ?  Should I continue to just keep putting them in the bin ?    Thanks for thour help Ceridwyn

 

Answer:

 

Hi Ceridwyn,

 

                     I think getting a compost bin is a great idea.     In regard to your question, you can just about put any organic substance into a compost bin and given the right balance it will compost and turn into organic fertiliser.     In regard to the Egg shells,  they take forever to break down so best to leave them out.   Worms don't really eat them.   But they will eat the lawn clippings and the citrus etc.     In regard to the right balance you need what I would call a feed stock (the main bulk of your compost) like the paper and clippings and leaves etc,  and a activator or source high in nitrogen to give the micro-organisms something to eat.      Worms are and important part of the composting process but they are only part of the issue.   In this regard you have to get the right pH balance of the compost to make it breakdown quickly.   To do this you will sometime have to add some Dolomite lime into the mix to get the pH to increase slightly and you can even throw in some fertiliser to give the micro-ogranisms something to feed off.    If you have chickens then the manure would be an excellent source of nutrient acivators to use in the composting process.    Throw in a few shovel loads with your next mix of compost and see how quickly it works.   At the end of the day you will have to experiment a bit till you find the right balance.   It should take about 6 weeks to make compost if it is taking longer then this then you have to adjust your mix, more or less.     Be aware that if your compost turns slimy then it is not the right mix.    It may also heat up this is good compost making,  this is the micro-ogranisms working. 

 

Regards

Gardenguide

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