|
|
"Pure Opinions"
Black Gold
Ever looked at your section and wanted to grow a vegetable garden, or a bigger garden? Well the power is there at your finger tips. There is some elbow work involved of course, but one of the secrets of successful vege garden is compost.
The beauty of making your own compost is that you don't import seeds of weeds and other problems into your garden, and you can use up household refuge - food scraps, newspaper, anything organic - and turn it into 'black gold'. And once you've made it, you can dig it into your garden before planting, and add it around plants once they get going.
It's great for all vegetable and general plant growing, and replenishes the soil.
What to compost: kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, weeds, except for persistent weeds like oxalis, dock, buttercup or couch (spray free). leaves except for leaves from walnut and pine trees and rhubarb (spray free), animal manure- particularly horse and chicken - fish scraps and crushed shells (cover these well to reduce smell), seaweed, sawdust, shavings and ashes from untreated timber (in small amounts).
7 EASY STEPS TO MAKING COMPOST
1. It's very important to find the right site for a compost heap. It should be in a level, sheltered place with easy access and out of direct sunlight.
2. Start with 10-15cm thick layer of coarse, twiggy plant material to ensure good drainage and ventilation.
3. Place organic material in layers no more than 15cm deep.
4. Keep the heap covered to prevent smells.
5. Sprinkle a handful of garden lime over the compost every few layers to encourage earth worms and micro-organisms.
6. Keep the heap moist in summer but don't drench it.
7. When the heap is one metre high or your container full, cover it and leave to mature. If your heap is just out in the open not in a container we recommend covering with old carpet, straw or black polythene.
TIP: Turn your compost in the heap every month or so to speed up the composting process.
Compost will take 3-4 months to mature. And don't stop with one, keep 2-3 going all year around - that way you always have compost ready for your garden.
Happy Composting!
Posted by Robert Glensor on 24th October, 2009 | Comments | Trackbacks
Tags: compost, water retention The trackback URL for this page is http://www.purebread.co.nz/trackback?post=16034253 TrackbacksThere are no trackbacks for this post There are no comments for this post Post a CommentHTML is not allowed in comments, http://... will be automatically linked.
|
|
|
|
