How to home compost

Top tips

• Place your compost bin on bare ground to allow worms and other creatures in (they help break down the waste)
• Find a sunny spot as this will help speed up the composting process
• Ensure a good circulation of air in the compost bin, by layering twigs at the bottom of your compost bin
• Allow the waste to rot down for about nine months until it looks like dark crumbly soil

To make good compost, you need to get the right mix of materials:

• 'Green' organic waste
• 'Brown' organic waste

By mixing them together in a home compost bin they rot down naturally to make compost. The key thing is to add a 50:50 mix of nitrogen-rich (green) waste and carbon-based (brown) waste...

Green waste

• Raw vegetables
• Fruit and vegetable peelings
• Grass cuttings
• Plant trimmings
• Tea bags / coffee grinds
• Nettles
• Dead flowers

Brown waste

• Shredded paper
• Cardboard boxes
• Toilet roll tubes
• Straw or hay
• Natural fibres eg wool
• Woody hedge clippings
• Sawdust / wood chips