A Beginner's Guide To At-Home Composting

With at-home composting, you can turn kitchen scraps into fertiliser for your garden. Researchers from Australia’s Griffith University compiled this list of do’s and don’ts for composting beginners.

- Prof Cheryl Desha, Kimberley Reis and Savindi Caldera

While composting is a fairly simple procedure, knowing what to put into your compost bin can be tricky, and views differ on whether you should add items like meat or citrus. It is important, in any event, to get your compost mix right, otherwise it can become slimy or smelly, or even attract vermin.

Through the process of composting, raw organic materials are converted to soft and spongy soillike grains. When compost is added to soil as fertiliser, it helps improve the soil’s ability to retain water and make nutrients available to plants. In fact, compost is so valuable for soil health that it is often referred to as ‘black gold’.

GET IT RIGHT