Following are ingredients for both cold & hot composting. Cold composting is when you slowly add ingredients as they come to hand. Hot composting is when you assemble ALL of those ingredients in one big, messy hit! This can create temperatures of up to 65 degrees in your ‘heap’ which can kill off pesky weeds & seeds. Plus it’s REALLY FUN! Compile 3 cubic metres in a wooden compost bin or even in a big heap in the middle of your garden. Do keep an eye on it in summer. It gets HOT! So hot you can boil an egg in it! Or cook a possum! Yum!
Start with a CARBON layer then add a NITROGEN layer (Ratio -C30:N1) all the way to the top! Dot in several condensed handfuls of ACTIVATORS in each layer to really get things heated up in there! – ENJOY!
CARBON
Mulch and woodchips
Egg Cartons (shredded)
Straw
Hay
Autumn leaves
Paper (shredded)
Cardboard & boxes (ripped up)
Newspaper (scrunched up)
Hedge Clippings
Hair
Untreated wood ash
Silage
Feathers
Old cotton or wool (100%)
NITROGEN
Seaweed / Kelp
Coffee grounds
Green plant material
Fruit & Veggie trimmings
Animal manures
Comfrey
Vacuum bags
Old Hay
Pond weed
Wool
Canna lilies
Corn stalks
DO NOT USE
Greasy food waste
Dairy products
Glossy paper / boxes
Plastic
Coal / Coal ash
Meat (a possum is good in there!)
Eggs (crushed shells are fine!)
Nappies
Cat or Dog manure
Oils
ACTIVATORS Blood & Bone/ Comfrey leaves / Cleavers/ Nettles Seaweed / Good rich soil & Compost
WATER Water each layer as you go!
AIR Make sure all paper and egg cartons are kept full of air and aren’t matted up as this stops essential oxygen get-ting around the ingredients,
COVER With black polythene.
HOW LONG? Makes compost in 3-6 weeks in Summer. Longer in Winter. If there is enough air in the compiling phase it shouldn’t require turning. Turn & add water if it looks too dry. Ants are a sign of ‘dry’!
