Hot, Hot Heap

• First decide where to site the compost bin (either home-made or ready-made) making it easily accessible and in a sunny or semi-shaded position. Plan to have your compost heap directly on soil or turf (this allows worms and other beneficial creatures easy access) and away from watercourses.

• You can add ‘green’ and ‘brown’ material to your heap but not meat, dairy or cooked food (see list below) So soft, young weeds, discarded flowers, old bedding plants and vegetable peelings can all be added, as well as grass cuttings.

• Did you know that cardboard could be added too? Egg boxes, toilet roll tubes, cereal packets (torn into smaller pieces) will all contribute to the final product.

• Try to add ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ in equal amounts by volume and mix materials to avoid soggy layers of one type of ingredient.

• If you are adding very woody material it is probably best to shred or chop it first, this will make it easier and quicker to decay.

• Don’t worry about adding green material with diseases like tomato or potato blight. These diseases need living tissue to survive and will not last long without it. Heat and the intense microbial activity in a compost heap will quickly dispose of plant diseases like these.

• If in doubt, leave it out. If your green material has soil borne disease like club root, then take or send this green waste to your local Household Waste Recycling Site where the composting methods will ensure enough heat to kill any problem organisms.

By Home Composting not only will you reap the reward in the form of FREE soil conditioner but your dustbin will be cleaner and you will be helping to cut down on landfill too. So…when you have everything prepared, add the right ingredients and sit back to let nature work its magic!

P. S. If you already have a compost bin/heap now is the time to empty, mix and refill it to improve the composting process.

Home composters are subsidised by West Sussex County Council

Order a bin now online at www.recyclenow.com/compost or call 0845 0770757

'Greens' (nitrogen-rich ingredients)

• · Grass cuttings

• · Young weeds

• · Nettles (not roots)

• · Comfrey leaves

• · Urine (ideally diluted 20:1)

• · Uncooked fruit and vegetable peelings

• · Tea bags, leaves and coffee grounds

• · Soft green prunings

• · Animal manure from herbivores e.g. cows and horses

• · Poultry manure

'Browns' (carbon-rich ingredients)

• Cardboard e.g. cereal packets, toilet roll tubes and egg boxes

• Waste paper and junk mail, including shredded confidential waste

• Paper towels & bags

• Scrunched up newspapers and glossy magazines but not in large quantities, the rest can be recycled

• Bedding (hay, straw, shredded paper, wood shavings) from vegetarian pets e.g. rabbits and guinea pigs

• Tough hedge clippings

• Woody prunings

• Old bedding plants

• Bracken

• Sawdust

• Wood shavings

• Autumn leaves (but use to make leaf mould if quantities are large)