Help keep the GardenZone free:
Even Greener Products for your garden
How to recognise mineral deficiencies in the organic garden
How to use organic fertilisers
Aerated compost tea
Even Greener Products for your garden
Visit our Forum
About us
Links page
Add URL
Privacy
Disclaimer
Contact us
Forum
Tell a Friend about Us
Environment
Are You Overwatering Your Garden?
Make An Easy Coffee Can Bird House
How to Make Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders
Attracting Nesting Birds
Soil Basics - Creating Fertile, Healthy Soil
Mulching Benefits - Organic And Inorganic Mulch Types
UK Zone Map
How to attract bees to your garden
How to attract pest predators
Pest Control - Good Bugs
Companions & antagonists in the organic garden
Crop rotation
Mulching in the organic garden
Make An Easy Coffee Can Bird House
How to Make Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders
Attracting Nesting Birds
Soil Basics - Creating Fertile, Healthy Soil
Mulching Benefits - Organic And Inorganic Mulch Types
UK Zone Map
How to attract bees to your garden
How to attract pest predators
Pest Control - Good Bugs
Companions & antagonists in the organic garden
Crop rotation
Mulching in the organic garden

Growing
Organic fruit cultivation table
Organic vegetables cultivation table
Organic herbs cultivation table
How to grow organic herbs
Culinary Herb Gardening
Grow your own salad
Sprouting seeds
Unusual fruits
How to prepare a seedbed
Organic crops sorted by family
Organic crops sorted by name
Organic crops sorted by difficulty
Everyone needs a spaghetti garden
Organic vegetables cultivation table
Organic herbs cultivation table
How to grow organic herbs
Culinary Herb Gardening
Grow your own salad
Sprouting seeds
Unusual fruits
How to prepare a seedbed
Organic crops sorted by family
Organic crops sorted by name
Organic crops sorted by difficulty
Everyone needs a spaghetti garden
Compost and Nutrition
Building a compost heap
Making loam and leafmould
Making worm compost
Best ways to use compost
Compost problems
Special compost mixtures
Green manures
C:N ratio of commonly composted materials
N:P:K analysis of compost materials
7 compost factors
Soil PH And Its Effect On Your Garden
Understanding Soil Nutrients
Making loam and leafmould
Making worm compost
Best ways to use compost
Compost problems
Special compost mixtures
Green manures
C:N ratio of commonly composted materials
N:P:K analysis of compost materials
7 compost factors
Soil PH And Its Effect On Your Garden
Understanding Soil Nutrients

Kill or Cure
Traditional garden treatmentsHow to recognise mineral deficiencies in the organic garden
How to use organic fertilisers
Aerated compost tea
Ornamentals
The Beauty of Landscaping
Protecting Your Lawn the Organic Way
How to Grow Phalaenopsis Orchids
Identifying Houseplant Pests
Planning A Flower Garden
Perennials Versus Annuals
How to make a Meadow
Blue wild flowers for your garden
Buying A Conservatory In The UK
Tips For Spring Gardening
Which gazebo is right for you?
Fertilising ornamental plants
Rose gardening challenges
Right plant, right place
Protecting Your Lawn the Organic Way
How to Grow Phalaenopsis Orchids
Identifying Houseplant Pests
Planning A Flower Garden
Perennials Versus Annuals
How to make a Meadow
Blue wild flowers for your garden
Buying A Conservatory In The UK
Tips For Spring Gardening
Which gazebo is right for you?
Fertilising ornamental plants
Rose gardening challenges
Right plant, right place

Other
A Hobby Greenhouse Will Get You Growing!
10 Free Gardening Products
Water Garden - Pond Pumps To Pump Up The Volume
Water Gardens That Upset The Neighbours
Useful addresses for organic gardeners
Organic garden glossary
What Family is that crop?
About organic seeds
Barrier hedging
How to Plant Hedges
Cooking garden produce
Storing garden produce
Storing seeds
Simple seed saving
Freezing garden produce
Why you should use Gypsum
10 Free Gardening Products
Water Garden - Pond Pumps To Pump Up The Volume
Water Gardens That Upset The Neighbours
Useful addresses for organic gardeners
Organic garden glossary
What Family is that crop?
About organic seeds
Barrier hedging
How to Plant Hedges
Cooking garden produce
Storing garden produce
Storing seeds

Freezing garden produce
Why you should use Gypsum
Even Greener Products for your garden
Visit our Forum

About us
Links page
Add URL
Privacy
Disclaimer
Contact us


How to build a compost heap
by Frann Leach
Looking for something else?
Stop paying out huge wads of cash for fertilisers and manure. No organic garden is complete without at least one compost heap, and preferably two or even three. Just follow these simple rules and you can build a well-balanced compost heap to feed your garden.
Building a compost heap
- A good design for a compost heap should consist of two compartments each at least one metre square. It should have a cover of carpet or sacking to keep the heat in and another cover of plastic to keep out the rain. If it has solid walls, it will need an aeration layer of staggered bricks, drainpipes or large lumps of rubble; if you are using ventilated sides, you can put down a layer of woody stems (e.g. prunings or brassica stumps).
- Prepare the site by forking over the ground and , if dry, water well 24 hours beforehand to encourage earthworms towards the surface.
- Add the aeration layer, then a 6" layer of moist vegetable waste. Follow with the activator (e.g. seaweed meal, dried blood, fresh nettles, fish meal, poultry manure, or a 1:3 mixture of urine and water).
- Add a second 6" layer of waste, incorporating a sprinkling of calcified seaweed (113 gm/4 oz to the square yard/meter), then the activator.
- Store waste in a plastic bag or bin until you have enough. Try to keep the carbon: nitrogen ratio to about 25:1. Avoid too much soil. The heap should be as damp as a well squeezed sponge.
- Continue building the heap in this way. Try not to add little bits at a time in dribs and drabs, but instead add fairly big amounts at one time: at least 2 or 3 inches in depth and preferably 6, so you know where you are with the layering. Keep the stuff for the compost heap in a couple of sealed up plastic bags until you have enough to do this. Always cover the heap when not actually adding waste.
- When the heap is finished it should heat up to about 65ªC/150ªF within a fortnight. Test it by putting a metal rod into the centre, leave for a few minutes, then withdraw. The end should be hot to the touch.
- Top up the heap, if you have enough material, when it has shrunk by about a third.
- After four or five weeks turn the inside of the heap to the outside and cover again.
- The heap should be mature in from 12-16 weeks after starting. It will then be dark, friable and smell of warm earth after rain.
©2004 Frann Leach. All rights reserved.
Top of page