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How To Make Compost - Be Prepared For Next Summers Water Shortage

How to make compost? It's easier than you think! As the cold season settles in, a little time and effort spent now will pay dividends next summer, when a water shortage and hosepipe ban are anticipated.


One thing that will save lots of watering is to mix organic compost in with your soil - as much as you can - this will act like a sponge, retaining water naturally in the soil. While doing your winter digging, work garden compost, mushroom compost or manure into every available area of soil. You can add as much as a barrow full for every square metre.


In areas where the compost can't be dug in - such as borders or beds packed with plants - spread as much as two inches of compost mulch on top. If this is done in winter, and again in spring, the worms will do a fine job of digging it in - saving you more work!


If you don't already have a compost container - now is the time to start one! Making compost is easy when you do it the right way.


So - how to make compost - take your green garden waste (only leafy material - no wood: soft hedge trimmings, grass clippings, dead bedding plants, weeds), mix them with vegetable peelings from the kitchen, wood ash if you have a log-burning stove, shredded plain white paper from the home office. Torn up woollen or cotton fabric can also be used - it has to be natural fibres, because synthetics won't break down into compost.


Stack all this stuff in a heap in the garden measuring at least a metre square, so that sufficient heat can be generated. If you don't have enough material to make a heap, pile it into a compost bin. If the material is dry, dampen it, press it firmly down and cover it with a plastic sheet (or the lid if it's a bin) - this will trap in the heat and humidity and start the stuff nicely rotting!


Six months later - hey presto! You have homemade compost - all for free - ready to use. It's easy when you know how to make compost - there's no need for smelly slimey mixtures attracting flies!


For more greenhouse gardening articles and resources visit how to make compost now!


Source: www.articlesbase.com