Earthcare Environmental Compost Tips
Earthcare Environmental is a keen supporter of home composting and wormeries.
Compost is produced when plant matter dies and breaks down into nutrients that feed the plants around it. This happens naturally in the forest. But Earthcare Environmental makes it happen as well. We collect and compost 30,000 tonnes of green waste each year. That's about the same weight as 4285 large elephants, or 185 empty jumbo jets, or even 857,142, 857 wetapunga!
Getting started
Load a 3ft by 3ft heap or bin with a balanced mixture of 'brown' carbon rich material, like dried leaves, straw, and wood chips, and 'green' nitrogen materials like fresh grass clippings and kitchen scraps.
- Start with a layer of coarsely chopped twiggy woody material on bare soil or grass.
- Add alternate layers of green matter (nitrogen rich) and brown matter (carbon rich) in layers about 5-10cm deep.
- Limit all materials, including grass clippings, to thin layers.
- Leave gaps in your stack or turn it, and keep it moist and warm. For health, hygiene, and ease you shouldn't compost meat, fish, dairy products, oils, pet waste, coal or coke ash or disposable nappies.
- A well maintained compost bin will produce compost in 3-4 months in summer and up to 6 months in winter. Compost feeds the soil, helps with water retention and encourages earthworms into your garden.
Happy composting!
Create Your Own Eden with Composting
You can find out more about composting by reading Create Your Own Eden from our Leaf Turner magazine, which we have available for you to download.