Compost turns kitchen scraps and garden waste into the dark, crumbly material that feeds soil for years. A small heap in a corner of the garden is enough for most households, and it costs nothing but a little attention every few weeks. This guide walks through the whole cycle, from choosing a spot to spreading the finished compost on the beds in spring.
Most of the work happens before the first scrap goes in, because the place you choose decides how fast the heap breaks down. A shady, sheltered corner on bare soil is ideal: worms and microbes move up from the ground, rain keeps it moist without flooding it, and the sun does not dry the edges out in August. Leave enough room to turn the heap with a fork and to reach it with a wheelbarrow, and keep it a few metres from the house.
What goes in matters more than how big the bin is. Aim for roughly equal volumes of green material, such as vegetable peelings, coffee grounds and fresh grass cuttings, and brown material, such as dry leaves, shredded cardboard and straw. Greens bring nitrogen and moisture, browns bring carbon and air. Leave out meat, dairy, cooked food and diseased plants, which attract rats or spread problems back to the garden.
Turning the heap every three to four weeks keeps it working. Air reaches the middle, the outer layers move to the hot centre, and you can see at once whether it is too wet or too dry. A heap that smells sour needs more browns and a turn; one that has gone cold and dusty needs water and a forkful of fresh greens. In a warm summer a well-turned heap can be ready in three months, while an untouched one takes a year or more.
Finished compost is dark, crumbly and smells of woodland soil, with none of the original scraps recognisable. Sieve out any woody pieces and return them to the next heap. Spread a layer of about five centimetres over the beds in early spring and let worms carry it into the soil, or mix it into the planting holes of shrubs and perennials. Used this way, one heap a year is enough to keep a small garden fertile without bought fertiliser.
A few problems come up again and again, and each has a simple cause. Fruit flies mean food scraps are lying on the surface, so bury them under a layer of browns. Slow progress in winter is normal and picks up again in spring. Weeds sprouting in the finished compost mean seed heads went in, so keep flowering weeds out or put them in the council green bin instead.
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