To gardeners, the soil is not merely a medium in which to grow plants, but the very stuff of life itself. So it’s so important to ensure that the soil remains balanced with adequate nutrients and organic material. In the case of our garden, the soil is clayey and lacks organic material.
Since we have chosen to have an organic garden it is only fitting to have a compost heap.
Our garden is small, so we don’t have the benefit of a hidden corner that no one will see to build a compost heap, so we have invested in a composter which hides the mess whilst it is busy being broken down.
We now put all our organic kitchen waste in there so we decrease our contribution to the local landfill site. I can’t believe how much goodness we’ve previously being throwing away. It does take a bit of discipline to truly separate the waste, but we’ve been separating our refuse previously so it is a little easier.
As we don’t have an established garden, we do not have any brown material to build the compost heap by the book. We’re supposed to have alternating layers of brown and green material, each about 20cm deep. The only brown material readily available is some of the dry fronds from the palm trees. I just don’t want to remove all the dry fronds as the birds use them as perches. I have mixed in some mature horse manure to substitute the missing brown material which should speed up the process.
The compost heap has been going for two weeks now and we’re amazed at the fact that all that rotting stuff isn’t smelling.
