{"id":14679,"date":"2017-11-20T17:39:25","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T17:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/?p=14679"},"modified":"2019-10-15T16:19:27","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T15:19:27","slug":"best-ingredients-for-good-compost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/best-ingredients-for-good-compost\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Ingredients for Good Compost"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Waste Not Want Not: The Best Ingredients for Your Compost Bin<\/p>\n

Gardening is not just the art of cultivating good plants but also of cultivating good soil. And the answer to good soil lies in compost: a rich source of nourishment made from home waste. 1.6 million households in the UK<\/a> create their own compost in this way. And whilst it\u2019s popular and an easy means to achieve good soil, there is a skill involved. To create a dark, crumbly, humus-rich product, you need to ensure you include the right ingredients in your compost bin.<\/p>\n

The perfect mix<\/p>\n

A compost bin needs a mix of both green and brown organic matter. Green matter comprises fresh plant material and food waste from the kitchen. These are both nitrogen-rich, offering an important source of protein for microbes in the compost that speed up decomposition. Brown matter refers to dry carbon-rich materials, such as paper and cardboard. Carbon is used for energy by the composting microbes.<\/p>\n

Striking the balance<\/p>\n

Fundamental to the composting process is striking the right balance between the amount of green and brown matter used. It is generally believed that a 1 to 3 ratio of nitrogen to carbon is ideal. But don\u2019t worry too much about the figures; use your judgement. If your compost is too wet, add more browns, and if it appears too dry, add some greens. And don\u2019t forget air. Either mix the contents or add scrunched up cardboard<\/a> to ensure air circulates through the mass.<\/p>\n

The specifics<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the specific ingredients that make healthy compost<\/a>. These can include waste from your kitchen, garden and paper recycling bin:<\/p>\n

Green matter<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Grass cuttings<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Weeds and plants (free from seeds and disease)<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Cut flowers<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Tea bags and tea leaves<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Coffee grounds<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Vegetable and fruit peelings and tops<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Food scrapings<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Egg shells (crushed to aid decomposition)<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Apple cores<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Seaweed<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Hair and fur<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Manure from herbivores eg. chickens and cows<\/p>\n

Brown matter<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Dried leaves and twigs (avoid large quantities of oak leaves and pine needles as these are slow to break down)<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Nuts and shells<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Straw<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Sawdust and wood shavings (from untreated wood and in small quantities)<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Wood ash (in small quantities)<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Cardboard boxes and packaging (shredded or cut down)<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Newspaper (black and white only, printed with 100% vegetable oil-based ink)<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Paper towels and tissues paper<\/p>\n

Mix it up and make it nice<\/p>\n

This is by no means an exhaustive list but gives a good guide to the most popular ingredients that can be used. Just remember, there are a few substances to avoid: anything that will not decompose, such as plastics, glass and metal; materials that will leave an unpleasant odour, like faeces and urine; and also those that might attract pests, such as dairy and meat. Stick to the list above and when you have your ingredients at the ready, simply follow guidelines on how to make your own compost<\/a> and you can be guaranteed of a flourishing, vibrant garden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Waste Not Want Not: The Best Ingredients for Your Compost Bin Gardening is not just the art of cultivating good plants but also of cultivating good soil. And the answer to good soil lies in compost: a rich source of nourishment made from home waste. 1.6 million households in the UK create their own compost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[551],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-composting","7":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14679"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15593,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14679\/revisions\/15593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningregisterblog.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}