Hot and Cold Composting

Location, Location, Location

Choose a sunny spot that you can easily get to. For hot composting you really need an area at least a 1m³ 

What/How to add

Aim for a mix of 30/70 green waste and brown waste (see list below).

Hurry up and Wait

It takes nine to twelve months for compost to … well compost – this will depend on what it is your type of compost (hot or cold method used), the time of year (temperatures) and it’s location.  It should be dark and earthy once ready.

What You CAN Compost GREENS Tea Bags/Tea Leaves Coffee Grinds Grass clippings/Weeds Fruit/Vegetable Scraps Rhubarb Leaves Banana Peels Animal manures (except cat and dog) BROWNS Untreated Sawdust (sparingly) Leaves Shredded Paper/Card/Egg Cartons/Toilet Rolls etc Egg Shells Corn Cobs Ash (From a WOOD fire – NOT coal) Straw and Hay Natural Fibres and natural fibre clothes (cut up) Wool Feathers Vacuum cleaner bag contents (Unless like mine it mostly contains Lego) Dryer Lint

What You Can NOT Compost Disposable Nappies Dog and Cat Faeces Meat Cooked Foods Dairy Products Anything that has been sprayed with pesticides Invasive Weeds Bamboo Flax Cabbage Tree Leaves

BUILDING YOUR COMPOST:

Your compost can be something which you make in one go after gathering all your ingredients (hot composting) or made over time in a bin (cold composting)

Your compost works best at around a metre wide by a metre high. Smaller than this and your compost has to large a surface area and will lose heat, too big and the heap is at risk of becoming anaerobic.

A good compost will have a carbon to nitrogen ratio of about 70:30 very similar to a fire which needs a lot of the carbon to burn but very little heat (nitrogen) to get it going.

Starting with sticks on the bottom will help with aeration of the heap. Add a small layer of nitrogen after each layer of carbon and don’t forget to water as you go. Mixing your manures with water as a slurry will help with the moisture of your heap as well as the distribution of the material. The mistake that is often made when building a freestanding heap is they often end up dome shaped. If this happens you will end up with something smaller than the recommended 1 metre x 1 metre. Try to pull the materials out to the side as you go to keep them straight.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

If you have built a hot compost you will know if it is working within about 36 hours because it will get quite hot. Ideally you don’t want it to get over 65c , but as most of you will not have a temperature probe , if you can keep your hand in the pile for about 30 seconds your probably on track. You will probably notice the pile drop quite a bit in the first week …a good sign. Once your heap starts cooling down you could turn it to introduce oxygen and heat it back up. But this is not necessary and just means the composting process will be a little slower (some suggest that a slower compost gives a better product)

Is your heap not heating up…..How does it feel, Cold, dry, wet, does it smell. A cold wet compost possibly means there is not enough oxygen. This could mean you didn’t put enough carbon in your heap, or added too much water. A dry heap on the other hand would suggest too much carbon and maybe not enough water. In either case turn your heap adding the missing ingredients as you go.

Smelly compost can be caused by anaerobic conditions as above or too many food scraps (which can have the same result) if putting in a lot of food scraps add a little lime with them.