Composting on a budget

I sometimes worry that I'm a bit odd. That is because strange as it seems I love composting. I think of it as a hobby as much as a way of recycling and giving life back to the soil. I love finding new things to compost such as human hair, cotton wool face pads, old clothes, nail clippings, the possibilities are endless. It gets me out in the fresh air all year round even if its raining. I also save money on buying compost for my garden. Composting is so useful for a raw foodist as I find that the majority of my waste is now fruit and veg scraps and juicer pulp. This can be recycled so easily to make a nutritious meal for your garden.

Starting up
With composting all you need is a bin. Situate it on a level ground and not on concrete. You don't want it too close to your house but near your plants and somewhere easily accesable is ideal. It needs to be in a position where it will get partial sun so that it can heat up. Mine is far away from my house but next to my veg patch. I can easily access it from a path.

Ready to Fill
Once you have got a compost bin and found a suitable site it is now ready to fill. The possibilities of what you can compost is endless. Just be careful to get a good mixture of greens and browns. If your compost mixture is too dry add greens (juicer pulp, fruit and veg peelings, tea bags, plant cuttings, etc) if it is too wet and smelly add more browns (cardboard, leaves, sawdust, twigs etc).
Do not ever add cooked food*, dairy, meats, nappies, used tissues**, dog poo, cat litter.

It is best to layer your compost, alternating greens and browns. When adding browns in try to leave air between the layers to help the compost aerate. This can be as simple as scrunching up paper before you throw it in. Although people differ in opinions I prefer not to turn my compost. If it is on grass or soil than worms and other life forms will naturally compost the mixture for you.

You can see when your compost is ready to use. Be patient as it takes a few months. It should be dark, moist and smell earthy. You can now use it in your flower beds, around trees, in pot plants and for helping to grow healthy organic veg.

And that's it. Very easy to do. You will get great pleasure through seeing how much you can reduce your waste by, composting at home is much better than your rubbish ending up on a landfill site.

Have fun helping the environment.

Tip 1:Make your own compost bin. Four wooden pallets joined together with one on a hinge to make a door is a very effective compost bin.

Tip 2; Go to http://www.recyclenow.com/ and put in your postcode. Your local council should subsidise the cost of your compost bin to encourage you to recycle.

Tip3; Go to Starbucks. They have a "grounds for you garden," scheme where they give away free bags of coffee grounds. They should be displayed in a basket in the store. The grounds work as an activator, speeding up the speed of composting. They are a nitrogen rich green material and make your composter smell so good!}

Tip 4; Wee in your bin! Urine is a great activator, again helping to speed up the composting.

Tip 5; Take a walk in the park. In autumn take a bin bag and go for a walk collecting the fallen leaves. Leave in the plastic bag for a couple of years and you have hour own leaf mulch!

Tip6; If you want to get rid of cooked waste or have limited space there are other products such as worm composting available.

*I know this is a raw blog but you may have unraw families or be transitioning.
** Germs and diseases are tough and may survive composting. Best to throw out.