Compost - my recipe

I started a new compost last week and we added more vegetable scraps from the market today.

To get it going I used food scraps from the kitchen, pulled out some pumpkin seedlings that started growing in the wrong spot and added dead leaves, wet cardboard, wet straw, one bag of shredded newspaper, a bucket of emu manure - that I soaked in water overnight to soften it up - and added more water to keep it moist.

We filled up the second hand composter in the bag that is my own, the front one if from a friend and the same make.
Before today the composter was already about half full. Once matter is added it starts heating up immediately. Great piece of machinery and easy to turn. I agree with the product description: "It provides the right environment for naturally occurring aerobic bacteria to develop and thrive, heating the contents, eliminating unpleasant smells and methane gas which causes atmospheric pollution."


The company tells me that the composter sells for a whopping $477 plus $150 freight, as they come from NSW. The composter apparently was out of production but is now being made again. A lot of money but I think it's a worthwhile investment, as it keeps producing high quality compost!

Jules went to the market early morning and brought along three bags of vegetable scraps, apples, tomatoes, salad, cabbage, rockmelons, and even a papaya, from which I saved the seeds for another project. We chopped it all up more or less finely and added it into the barrel. Next door Jules swapped two buckets full of veggie scraps for some chicken manure and that went into the mixture too. We added more leaves, more soaked emu manure and the barrel was nearly full after two hours work.

We emptied the front composter. The compost was three weeks old and more than ready. The rosmarin  aroma the compost had in the first days, from the bush of rosmarin that we shreddered into the barrow then, had left by now. Only a lot of stalks were left, but they were not in the way. This composter is now ready for the next heap.

From the garden workshop I remember to treat a composter like a washing machine, throw everything in at the same time and do not keep adding dirty socks when the load is ready to rinse. Therefore I will start preparing the new compost from today. If we got into a cycle every every week emptying one and setting up the new one, we should be just right. What this garden needs is a lot more organic matter, such as compost and the two barrels are the ideal tool to get just that happening. Jules attended the workshop as well last week and was sharing his experience. He liked it and learnt a lot. he especially liked the style and the no frills approach. We will drum up a few more participants when the workshops restart next year.