Compost on the run.
The ‘instant pudding’ of composts is quickly whipped up, finds Helen Mays
Making good compost; it sounds like alchemy, something restricted to those truly in the know. Are you worthy to know how to make… good compost? A beautiful autumn afternoon in The Square on World Environment Day revealed a very simple method of making compost and keeping the weeds at bay.
All it takes, according to the expert, is a good supply of newspapers (easy so far) a bag or three of untreated sawdust and a pile of lawn clippings. The only difficulty may be finding the untreated sawdust. This can be bought from a local sawmill, but local nurseryman Eddie Welsh suggests dead leaves are a good substitute.
“First you fold the newspaper so there’s a thickness of layers, then you place it on the garden and throw some sawdust or leaves on top of it.”
Good so far, no science degree necessary. Now what?
“Then you add lawn clippings on top, to weight the paper and the sawdust or leaves down.”
Aha. It really is simple. Eddie explains it’s the paper that keeps the light off the weed seeds and stops them sprouting, and the sawdust helps weight the paper and hold the weeds at bay. Sawdust is low in nitrogen but the addition of lawn clippings raises the nitrogen levels, speeding up the breaking down process. Lawn clippings are heavy and help prevent the sawdust from being blown away. The lawn clippings are also hot as they decompose and keep the mix moist.
He says when the mixture is high in nitrogen it all breaks down well.
“It’s a mulch and a composting all in one go,” says Eddie.
The compost bin can be circumvented completely by diverting some of the daily vegetable scraps and laying them on top of the newspaper, sawdust or leaves.
This sees a quick turnaround for those wanting maximum garden in minimum time.
Ripe vegetables, plucked out of the garden, carried proudly and triumphantly into the kitchen for a quick cleanup before serving, then the scraps or inedible bits put straight back onto the garden as a mulch and compost. And no, sorry kids, leaving out the actual eating of the vegetables isn’t an option.
