Composting

4Feeding your compost

The key to good composting is as simple as: Food! Stir! Garden!

This formula is the easiest way to ensure your compost has a balanced diet and gets plenty of air through regular stirring and tossing. This helps to manage the moisture levels in your compost by balancing wet food scraps with dry garden scraps.

Tips

  • Store collected garden scraps and clippings next to your compost so they are available when you need them.
  • Use your kitchen scraps bucket to scoop garden scraps from your stockpile into your compost. This helps ensure equal quantities. 

Did you know?

Cold composting

The method above is called “cold” composting. It's the most convenient way to compost your food scraps regularly. The compost does generate heat but because scraps are added gradually it won't get really hot. It will take 3 to 6 months for the compost to be ready.

Hot composting

This is when you fill the compost bin in layers all at once and leave it to “cook” stirring and adding water occasionally. This will create compost in 6 to 10 weeks.

Gardeners sometimes use both methods; establishing a “hot” compost that is filled to the top and left to cook, as well as a “cold” compost that they add scraps to regularly.

Carrots