September is a month of change, and although autumn maybe on the horizon, late summer continues to shine. Flower borders gather together for their final encore, with an explosion of fiery reds and burnt oranges. Dahlias are determined to bloom right up to those first frosts, whilst veg plots are ripe for harvesting.
From picking fruit and veg, cutting flowers to bring indoors or tidying beds and borders, we need to ‘make hay while the sun shines’, and enjoy every moment before Mother Nature calls time on summer. But, for a healthy garden to continue bringing us seasons of pleasure, there’s is one vital element we should never be short of, and that’s compost.
Buying compost can be expensive, but creating your own compost is a cheap, productive solution. However, before you delve into this organic alchemy, set aside an outside area for a compost bin. The site should be accessible, level and allow excess water to drain away. Place the bin on bare earth, as this allows microorganisms and worms to bury deep into your heap and work their magic.
Newly bought compost bins can vary in price, material and size. One bin is plenty for a small garden, but a larger space may require two or three bins. To keep costs down, try building your own compost bay from disused wooden pallets. Take allotment holders, they’re experts in recycling, re-purposing and re-using a pallet. Whether it’s building raised beds, strawberry planters or compost bays, they can create something functional, and often beautiful looking, for pennies.
Simply build a lidless box which is a pallet wide, by a pallet high and a pallet in depth. If you have more than one bin, set them side by side.
Some gardeners will go into great science on how they make compost, but I like to keep it simple. Compost matter can be broken into two categories: brown and green materials. Green waste is leafy green material, such as grass cuttings, fruit and vegetable waste. This breakdowns quickly, providing moisture and nitrogen for your compost. Brown waste tends to be fibrous or woody. Slower to breakdown, it provides carbon and fibre. Materials include: paper, cardboard and fallen leaves. Things to avoid are diseased plants, pet litter, perennial weeds, meat and dairy products. Several years ago, I spent the summer constantly removing poopy seedlings from my brassica beds. So, for the longevity of my back, I now keep seedheads out of the compost bay.
Another key factor to making healthy compost is balance. If it’s dry, add more green waste. If it’s too wet, add more brown waste. Generally, between a quarter to half is green material and the rest is brown.
Turning compost every few weeks will create air pockets that help breakdown matter. If you have more than one bin, fill the first bin and turnover the growing pile regularly. Once full, move the heap across to the next empty bin, and let it continue composting. With the first bin now empty, begin filling it again. This staggered process can produce a continual compost supply. The other bonus, I often discover long-lost tools I put down a few months being unearthed before my very eyes.
Compost can be ready in several weeks to a few months, depending on weather and what’s in your heap. If you can’t wait that long try adding compost activator. Activating the enzymes, it can create compost in half the time.
To know if it’s ready, your compost should smell earthy, look dark and feel crumbly. Don’t worry if there are a few twiggy bits, these will breakdown.
A compost heap is the beating heart of any growing space, creating black gold for pennies. So, this autumn reward your hardworking beds and borders by spoiling them in a thick mulch of homemade compost. I promise you; your flowers will thank you with big blousy blooms next growing season.
