Home composting without the common mistakes
What a normal garden compost bin can take, what to leave out and when a council food collection is better.
Start with a manageable bin
Choose a suitable garden spot and a bin you can reach throughout the year. Ask your council whether it offers discounted compost bins. Home composting is an option, not a reason to put unsuitable food into a garden waste bin.
Balance the ingredients
Mix moist plant scraps and fresh cuttings with drier leaves or small amounts of plain torn cardboard. Avoid a thick layer of one material. Allow air into the mix and adjust it if it becomes waterlogged or very dry.
Leave these materials out
Do not add meat, fish, dairy, cat or dog waste, nappies, glossy card or diseased plants to an ordinary home heap. Specialist systems have different instructions. Packaging described as industrially compostable is not necessarily suitable for your garden.
Use it when it has broken down
Composting takes time; look for a crumbly material with an earthy smell rather than expecting a fixed completion date. Keep partly decomposed pieces in the bin for longer.
See food caddies for unsuitable kitchen scraps and garden waste collections for larger amounts.
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