IN my more than two decades gardening I've had many disappointments and mishaps. Off the top of my head I can recall the green beans that simply refused to grow; the countless hostas munched out of existence by molluscs; the Japanese maple that rotted from the tips of its branches inwards; and the cherry tree that has yet to produce edible fruit.
However, one area of horticultural expertise that I believe I have mastered is making compost, the building block of every successful sustainable garden in which your greatest ally is time. It would seem my fingers aren't so much green, as dark brown.
Homemade compost is cheap, effective and made with the very stuff we usually throw away. It has many applications in the garden, whether as a mulch, soil conditioner, fertiliser or growing medium. You can even steep the finished product in water to make your own, easily applied liquid feed. It doesn't require much room to make it, just the right ingredients and a little bit of patience.
Ideally, you want to end up with a rich, dark, friable substance, and the key to this perfect compost is the correct ratio of 'green' nitrogen and 'brown' carbon materials.
The jury is still out on the correct proportions of each – some say 50:50, others suggest three parts 'brown' to every to part 'green'.
Too much nitrogen, such as grass cuttings, and you end up with a sweet smelling sludge; too much carbon, for instance if you go mad with the shredded cardboard, and your heap will be dry and slow to decompose.
Examples of brown matter include the aforementioned cardboard, newspaper, straw, sawdust and shredded leaves, while grass, green garden cuttings and fresh manure will provide plenty of nitrogen.
The greater variety of material the better, whether it's coffee grindings, seaweed or banana skins.
Compost also needs a lot of air to help the material rot down, so ensure the contents aren't too tightly packed and turn them regularly.
The greater the volume of waste matter the faster and finer it will break down, so your composter should be at least one metre cubed. If you have the room, I'd recommend a vermin-proof bin for kitchen waste along with a bigger heap for bulkier garden clippings and any weeds you dig-up.
Good bins can be expensive (as in £100-plus ) but they are worth it. Pallets are an obvious and excellent choice for containing a heap, though it makes sense to remove the inner horizontal planks at the beginning. If spoiled for room, and you use a lot of compost, create yourself three or more bays, each for material in various stages of decomposition.
Stuff to avoid includes cooked food, which is more likely to attract vermin, and potato peelings, which will sprout and grow, and can also include growth additives. Some perennial weeds, especially the roots, are perhaps best disposed of in the brown bin or a long-term (we're talking years) 'problem' heap. Diseased material is best burned.
Shredding material thinly will speed the decomposition process up. Keep your heap damp but not soaking, adding small amounts of water during dry spells. Once your material reaches the desired point and qualifies as compost, either remove it to be stored separately or spread on your flower or veg beds.
Digging-in shouldn't be necessary as the same worms, woodlice and micro-organisms that created your compost will work it into the earth.
