KAROO NEWS - Not the most glamorous of subjects perhaps, but as usual, it’s the groundwork that pays off in gardening. It is not necessarily about saving a few rands either, although that is certainly a factor, but more about the quality of the end product, which is compost, of course…
The steamy, rotten smelly stuff that is going to ensure vigour and beauty in all that you grow.
Many people think that making compost is complicated and mythical, that it smells bad or is a messy business, or that takes too long to be worth it.
But that is not true – it is actually easy and quick to make your own compost. And it’s worth the effort, to ensure that your compost is organic and not loaded with pesticides and weed seeds, like many commercially available compost can be.
The soil in many gardens, in particular urban gardens, is very often depleted of nutrients, so it doesn’t contain the macro and micro nutrients essential for healthy plant growth. And as more new housing developments are built, more and more homeowners try to start gardens from scratch in ground that is nothing more than a building site, full of cement and rubble – all that is horrible for your plants.
This is where compost comes in. It can improve soil structure, and add all that much-needed bacteria and nutrients. Here’s a breakdown of the different types of compost you can make yourself.
A Traditional Compost Heap
Many of us probably have memories of forgotten corners of the garden, behind a shed somewhere out of the way, where fruit peels and kitchen scraps were tossed ad-lib and which became, especially in summer, a ghastly no-go area buzzing with fruit flies.
Don’t panic – a compost heap can be much more efficient and user-friendly than that. Once you have decided on a corner of the garden, you can fence it off with latte panels, which are available from roadside vendors. This will help to keep it under control.
If you have a small garden with no faraway corner to create a compost heap, purchase a plastic composter from your garden centre or hardware store. These are big enough to house enough material to keep a medium-sized garden in compost and are reasonably aesthetic.
Photo: Gabriel Jimenez, Unsplash
The maintenance
Ideally, you should turn the contents of the bin over at least once during its decomposition period to move all the micro-organisms around and aerate the heap. Almost any vegetable matter can go into the compost, from garden cuttings to kitchen scraps, but avoid meat products or you’ll end up with a rat invasion!
Compost activators in powder or liquid form are available from garden centres – these are additives that you mix with the contents of your compost heap or bin to jump-start the whole decomposition process.
A good combination of vegetable material will result in a well-balanced compost. In composting terms, this is often referred to as ‘browns’ and ‘greens’, the browns being dry material such as dead leaves and sticks, and the greens being wet material such as food scraps, leaves and lawn clippings.
Greens contain nitrogen, while browns contain more carbon – try to incorporate both of these elements.
The major difference between making traditional compost and making bokashi is that with bokashi, your waste material is fermented quickly using special and specific types of bacteria.
The bacteria is added in the form of a ‘starter’ or inoculant mixture, which breaks down organic matter extremely quickly. There are many good reasons to choose bokashi if you want to create your own plant food. You can use the solid fermented material as plant food or as a soil additive, or you can brew it into a compost tea. The real upside of bokashi compost is the speed at which the final product is ready – much faster than waiting for a traditional compost heap to rot down.
Bokashi can be made in a small bucket on your kitchen counter if you’re short of space. If you follow the process properly, you’ll have the most amazing plant food with absolutely no smell. It can be made in any size bucket with an airtight lid, or in a special bokashi bucket (but this will probably cost you twice the price!).
