14 ★ FTWeekend 2 November/3 November 2019Heap it on
L
ike many gardeners, I have a
compost heap. A place where
miscellaneous green waste —
grass clippings,spentperen-
nials and eceased plants — isd
committed in a disorganised pile to
slowly biodegrade. A place where the
complete absence of science, effort and
husbandry is matched only by the inex-
orablegrowthoftheheap.
For the past three years I have been
meaningtodealwiththisfesteringaber-
ration. Professional pride is a strong
motivator and as a family we have
becomemoreawareofthewastewepro-
duce and how we might reduce it. Our
10-year-old twins are — thankfully —
more switched on to this than I ever was
attheirage.
So among theunattainable esolu-r
tions made at the beginning of the year
was one standout ledge: 2019 would bep
theyearwewouldreduceourhousehold
waste and start contributingto the
“thinkglobally,actlocally”mantra.
To achieve our aims would require
investment. Time and labour would not
be enough: to successfully biodegrade
our food waste I would need to add to
mycompostingarmoury.
The traditional cold composting
heap is the method most frequently
used in gardens. It relies on the weather,
soil faunaandtime to turn green waste
into usable material.It can be a slow
process, with raw materials taking
many months to break down. My
approachof“pileithighandwalkaway”
isnotthetextbookmethod.
An efficient cold compost heap
requires planning. Raw materials
must be added in layers, being
careful not to overuse one material.
A layer of grass clippings should be
followed by leafy stems, such as
potato tops, then augmented with
old leaf litter, shredded paper and so
on. This keeps the heap open, allowing
oxygen in and preventingputrefaction.
Regular turning helps maintain
oxygen levels and keeps the composting
process oving.m
Space is another consideration. My
own amorphous mass has extended
over an area the size of two king-sizebeds. And while green waste, including
vegetable peelings, shredded paper and
cardboard can be safely subsumed by
my traditional compost heap, food
waste cannot. Adding cooked meat to a
coldheapisanabsoluteno-no.
To tacklefood waste invested in twoI
additional bits of kit: a worm farm and a
hotbincomposter.
TheUrbalivewormfarmfromHarrod
Horticultural onsists of two plasticc
trays over a large sump. It provides a
home forwaste-eating worms — usually
red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) and red-
worms(Lumbricusrubellus).
Setting up the farminvolved a quick
assembly of the sump and then filling
one of the trays with the supplied bed-
ding for the worms. To give them the
best possible start — optimal conditions
for the worms re between 12C and 24Ca— I put the worm farm in my green-
house, moving itoutside the kitchen
doorbylateApril.
Food waste was added sparingly to
start with, to prevent overwhelming the
worms.Bylatespringthelowertraywasfullandbeinggraduallydigestedbycon-
tented worms and a second tray was
addedtoholdmorewaste.
A handful of pH-balancing material
is added every fortnight to counter-
balance the acidic qualities of thethe compost open, and are quick to
break down. The liquid they exude as
they biodegrade makes an excellent
planttonicwhenwatereddown.
Managing a cold compost heap is
fairly easy and provides a rather good
low-impact cardio workout. I have
taken about 20 wheelbarrows of decent
mulch out of the heap this year. Previ-
ously, this just would have broken down
to nothing and been lost in the soil
beneaththeheap.
The worm farm is a source of fascina-
tion for children and adults alike, and
the end-product is a very high-quality
potting compost. The process is sedate,
and I now know what the worms will
andwill not digest. Coffee grounds are
anabsolutefavourite;crushedeggshellsGardensComposting can
be made more efficient
with kit such as wormfarms and hot bins.
ByMatthew Wilson(Above)
Matthew Wilson
in his garden;
(above right)
Urbalive worm
composter;
(right) compost
produced by a
hot bin
Tom Jamieson for the FT;
Critical TortoiseHouse Home
biodegradingwaste,alongwithasimilar
amount of “worm tonic”. The sump
beneath the trays collects moisture,
which is drained off and can be used as
liquidfertiliserinthegarden.
I also took delivery of an aerobic hot
composting bin from HotBin Compost-
ing. Roughly the sizeof a wheelie bin,
a hot bin is designed to get very warm,
with working temperatures between
40C and 60C. The heat is generated
by the bacteria that break down the
waste,andmustbefedwith7kgofwaste
a week. Material that cannot be dis-
posed of in a cold heap can all be
safely added: fish waste,pet excrement,
pernicious weeds and weed seeds.
Shredded paper and cardboard is added
regularly to keep oxygen in the bin.
Onceset up, it can produce compost in
aslittleas30days.
In thewinter I found it hard to get
the bin up to heat, but with thearrival
of spring and a plentiful supply ofnet-
tles, which have almost miraculous
properties in compost, I restarted the
bin and watched it hit 40C in 24 hours.
Nettles are fibrous, so help to keepand avocado skins, not so much. haveI
discovered asense of propriety to my
livestock and find myself fretting about
thehealthandwellbeingofmy orms.w
Once up to working temperature,
the hot bin now digests 90 per cent of
our cardboard and paper waste, as
much garden waste as I want to add
to it and all the food waste the worms
do not fancy, including cooked meat.
The compost it produces in 30 days is
good for use as a surface mulch; left for
longer it breaks down further to friable,
dark brown matter as good as any
baggedcompost.
As a family we no longer put any food
waste in the bin and our paper and card
waste either goes to the HotBin or the
cold heap. Our municipal green waste
bin h asbeenemptysinceFebruary.And
all that waste is now going back into the
garden. I am not quite basking in virtu-
ous glory s thea recycling bin is stillfull
of plastic and glass, but at least I have
exerted a small degree of control over
ourwaste, saved a few pounds and
gainedsomenewskills.Nottoobadfora
loadofrubbish.NOVEMBER 2 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 10/201930/ - 17:44 User:elizabeth.robinson Page Name:RES14, Part,Page,Edition:RES, 14, 1