Lottie’s Plot
Great fruit and vegetables and great compost go together!
Visit any allotment site or any piece of land cultivated for productive crops and you will see that most allotment-holders boast their own, often quirky, compost heaps. All the green waste from their gardening labours is added to the heap making sure that no waste leaves the plot – closing the cultivation ‘loop’.
Spring is the ideal time to take action and create a compost heap if you haven’t already got one, or to add another! Take advantage of the composter offer for Green Club members or build your own for next to nothing – except a little bit of your time. Follow these simple steps:
- Choose where to site your heap – an out of the way corner, in sun, would be ideal
- One of the easiest and cheapest ways to build a compost bin is to build it from wooden pallets. You could tie the four sides together to form a box shape and even add another three pallets to join another bin onto the first. Use old carpet or something similar to cover the heap, keeping off rain and keeping heat in.
- Whatever your compost bin looks like remember to add a good mix of ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ to the heap. ‘Browns’ could include scrunched up paper, cardboard, wood shavings, sawdust and soft prunings. Add lawn clippings bit by bit, mixing them well with the rest of the material in the heap. Turning your compost heap will add air to the mix and keep the composting process going as well as mixing up the brown and green waste.
Compost making is a fundamental part of a move towards a sustainable and organic way of life. Free and as easy as pie to produce, compost has huge benefits. It improves the fertility and structure of the soil, it helps to reduce the number of pests and diseases and it helps to create a rich and varied eco system. No wonder it is known as ‘Black Gold’!
Useful websites:
http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/index.html
http://www.wrap.org.uk (enter ‘compost’ in the search box)
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk (enter ‘compost’ in the search box)
