Home Composting

This is a page written about my compost system at home, it supports my garden maintenance work providing valuable organic material.

Soil fertility is central to good organic gardening, I believe that ‘what you take out , you must put back in’. 
To achieve this I have set up a composting system.Compost bin construction 
I have four bins, each is four feet square and the same high. I have used old builders yard pallets, slightly modified and fixed together. The fronts are screwed on to allow easy access. I have found that owning a cordless screwdriver essential for garden jobs such as this.

What goes in 
Bin one is filled with everything compostable (avoid weeds  like bindweed (convulvulus), in case they survive the heat of the process) that comes out of the garden. Woody waste is put through a shredder first. 
It is best to get a reasonable mixture of different materials, for example grass cuttings and weeds and hedge prunings and discarded bedding etc. Too much grass will soon get smelly without air circulating through it. If you need to redress the balance and are fortunate enough to have access to spent straw from a stable, mix with the grass cuttings.

When to turn 
When the bin is full, it is turned into the second bin. At this stage the heap does not resemble usable compost, turning will aerate and combine the ingredients. If parts of the compost material is dry I will add water from the garden hose. The heap then reheats and continues the composting process.

Why four bins ? 
In my case the four bins are necessary because of the high volume input, each time the first bin is full I will turn the heap into the second bin, which must first be turned into the third. By the time the compost reaches the fourth bin, it is ready to be bagged up and taken back to the garden.

Does it pay ? 
This is not a large commercial operation, I make a small charge for the collection of waste material as it accumulates during normal garden maintenance. The finished compost is sold to the clients garden as it is required.