COMPOSTS AND FERTILIZERS - Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces - page 24

Now all you need to do is put the materials into the bin and let nature take its course. Compost
is made by the action of two things: microbes and worms. The microbes are everywhere but
worms may be in short supply. Place your bin onto bare earth and worms will magically ap-
pear.
I have seen people put bins onto concrete and wonder why the compost takes ages and
never seems properly rotted down. You may well open the lid and find lots of thin red worms.
These are the brandling worms beloved of fishermen and they're working hard for you - eat-
ing the waste and converting it in their gut to the finest plant food.
Both worms and microbes need some water to live so don't let your compost bin dry out
but don't have it soaking wet either. Just damp is fine. The best way to add water is with a
watering can with a rose on it so the water is distributed evenly.
If compost becomes acid, then the microbes cannot operate so well and the worms will
move out, so adding a little lime will 'keep it sweet' as we say. Just buy some garden lime
(it's very cheap in the old fashioned garden suppliers) and dust over the surface every foot
(30cm) or so. When I say dust, think of the icing sugar on a cake. You only need a little. I use
an old tablespoonful on each layer for my dustbin sized compost bin.
You can also buy compost accelerators cheaply. Basically these provide additional nitrogen
to feed the process. Petrol on the fire. If you use these, and I do, put a sprinkling on after a 6
inch (15cm) layer and then add lime on the next 6 inch layer and so forth.
To avoid things becoming too compact and the materials around the edge not rotting, just
use a hand fork to stir around the top layer before adding the next lot of materials.
After some months the bin will have rotted down most of the material in the lower regions.
As I said, there is a little door to enable removal of the finished compost but I think the best
way is simply to lift the bin up and off the compost.
Then, using a garden fork, take the top partially rotted material off and put aside. Either
into a wheelbarrow or onto a sheet is fine. We find old shower curtains do sterling duty as
tarpaulins in the garden.
The finished compost at the base can then be used and the partially rotted goes back into
the bin to finish rotting down.
Leafmould
Come the autumn the trees lose their leaves which in the forest would just lie on the floor to
rot down. However, the tree sucks back most of the nutrients before it discards those leaves
so leafmould doesn't contain much in the way of nutrients unlike compost. However, leaf-
mould is a great soil conditioner and can form the base of homemade seed composts.
It's very easy to make, especially if you have one of those leaf vacuums with a built in
mulcher. Just pop the leaves into a large bin bag, watering occasionally as you fill it to keep