Get your garden thriving with your own home grown compost this Spring!

With plenty of moisture in the soil and warming temperatures, Spring is the perfect time to plant new flower beds, trees and vegetable gardens. To prepare your soil, what better way to go than to lay down rich black compost created in your own backyard!

Producing your own rich compost is both economical and a great way to recycle your kitchen waste and garden clippings. So, if you haven’t already got a compost bin, now is the perfect time to invest in one and get composting.

If you do have a compost bin, late winter is a good time to pay it some extra attention. Make sure your bin has the optimum balance of heat and moisture but try not to add any more organic waste. As the temperature warms, your composting worms will start to eat more quickly and in doing so, they’ll speed up the important process of decomposition. Within four weeks, you’ll have rich black compost ready to lay on your garden beds.

With this in mind, here are some easy tips to speed up the rate of decomposition in your compost bin so that you get the very best compost quickly!

Tips & Tricks for Composting in Spring

1.   Get your Tumbleweed Compost Mate or the New Aerator out and use it at least once a week to mix and aerate your existing compost. Aerating is as simple as twisting the rod into the organic waste but the benefits are enormous – organic waste breaks down up to five times faster than matter left idle so your compost should mature in approximately four weeks! 

2.   As the climate warms up, so too will the conditions in your compost bin. The microbes and worms in your bin will become more active, and they’ll need more energy.  Add some extra ‘Compost Conditioner’ to your bin to boost the nutritional value of the organic matter, neutralise acidity and balance the pH levels. Tumbleweed’s Compost and Worm Farm Conditioner is made from natural minerals so it’s perfectly safe to use on organic waste that will later be thrown onto your vegetable patch in the form of compost.

3.   To enrich your compost further, add a few handfuls of chicken or cow manure each week.

4.   Place a circular ‘Can-O-Worms’ blanket, a hessian sack or an old woollen jumper on top of your compost bin to trap moisture levels.  If your compost is dry add some water.

5.   Establish a second compost bin and start filling it. Then you’ll be able to feed your gardens with even more fabulous nutritious compost later in the season.