Where can I compost?

• In your garden using a compost bin or in your kitchen using a composter. Ask your local authority if they offer discounted composters.
  
  
• In your community – ask your local authority if there is a community composting scheme in your area. Some collect organic material from your home; others have open sites for own delivery.
  
  
• At your civic amenity site – many sites have green skips for bulky organic rubbish. These garden cuttings are taken to a composting facility where they are shredded and used to make compost. Your local council may also offer a kerbside collection service for organic material.

How do I compost?

• Put your composter in the garden on bare soil, NOT paving or decking.
  
  
• Composting needs a balanced diet – just like us! Try to add equal volumes of soft and tough materials. Soft, wet materials include grass cuttings tea bags and uncooked vegetable peelings that won’t successfully compost on their own. Tough items are harder, drier materials such as straw, paper and hedge cuttings. Avoid adding woody stems – these should be taken to your local green waste recycling centre. Your local authority will have details of the nearest site.
  
  
• Composting works best if you add lots of materials at once. Chop chunky and large items into small pieces to speed up the composting process.
  
  
• Try to ensure that your compost stays moist but not wet – when squeezed in your hand a few drops of water should be produced. Add water if it is too dry; cover and add dry material if too wet.
  
  
• Add soil, finished compost or a compost accelerator (young nettles are excellent at this job) to help speed up the composting process.
  
  
• Remember to keep adding a good mixture of materials.
  
  
• Agitate the contents with a garden fork to keep the air flowing through the material. Do this every couple of weeks during the summer and every month or so in the winter.
  
  
• Your compost is ready when it is dark in colour and has an earthy smell. Depending on the time of year and materials used this can take anything from six to eighteen months.
  
  
• The finished compost will appear at the bottom of the heap.
  
  
• The compost can be used in the garden as a soil conditioner or mix it with sharp sand and soil to make a potting mix. If your compost is ‘chunky’, simply spread it over your garden beds as mulch.