Tracey Bool Garden Writer
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    • Permaculture >
      • Borage
      • Bringing in the Good Bugs
      • Building Beneficial Insect and Solitary Bee Accommodation in Your Garden
      • Comfrey My Garden Back to Life - Symphytum officinale
      • Climate Change Gardens
      • Growing Lucerne as a Green Manure Crop
      • Grown & Gathered by Matt & Lentil
      • Handy Link: ACT for Bees
      • Jerusalem Artichoke
      • Make Friends Using Companion Plants in Your Garden
      • Marigold
      • Pip: Australian Permaculture Magazine
      • Queensland Arrowroot
      • RetroSuburbia
      • The One Straw Revolution
      • The Weird and Wonderful World of Compost Brewing
      • Urban Homesteading Goulburn Mulwaree Library reference list
      • Yacon
    • Australian Native plants >
      • Bush Foods and a World of Wonder
      • Brachychiton populneus
      • Correa alba x pulchella 'Pink Pixie'
      • Correa pulchella 'Little Cate'
      • Correa pulchella ‘Ring A Ding Ding’
      • Eremophila racemosa
      • Grevillea iaspicula
      • Handy Link: Birds in Backyards
      • Lomatia myricoides
      • Lovely Locals
      • Lovely Winter Natives
      • Olive Pink: A Life in Flowers
      • Photographic Guide to Native Plants of the Australian Capital Territory
      • Plants of Goulburn Wetlands
      • Kembla Cherry Orchard: Seasonal Winter Maintenance
      • Poa labillardieri
      • Wahlenberia stricta
    • Fruit, Veggies & Herbs >
      • Flavour and More with Spaghetti Squash
      • Green Zebra Tomatoes
      • Grow. Food. Anywhere
      • Growing Blueberries
      • Growing Chillies in Pots
      • Growing, Eating and Enjoying Radish
      • Growing Garlic
      • Growing Passionfruit in Canberra
      • Leaf Curl and Codling Moth on Fruit Trees
      • Maintaining Blueberries
      • Mild Mannered Turnips
      • Preparing veggie seedlings for planting
      • Reaping the Harvest: Broad Beans
      • Pumpkin True Green Hubbard
      • Scented Geranium
      • Snowpea 'Oregon Sugar'
      • Summer Hardy Perennial Herbs
      • Summer Savory
      • The Seed Savers' Handbook
      • The Vegie Box
      • Tomato 'Honey Drop'
    • Garden Creation & Maintenance >
      • Australian Dreamscapes: The art of planting in gardens inspired by nature
      • Autumn in The Garden
      • Adhoc Gardening Tool Box
      • Bokashi Composting
      • Biofumigant Seed Crops
      • Canberra Soils
      • Carbon Storage in Urban Environments
      • Clay Seed Balls
      • Comfrey Tea
      • Composting
      • Cool Season Garden Bed Maintenance
      • Enliven the Senses with a Sensory Garden
      • Creating a Wildlife Friendly Garden: Reference List
      • Gardening Down-Under
      • Green Manure Crops
      • Growing and Maintaining Windbreaks
      • Handy Organic Sprays
      • Handy Tip: Plant Gazebo
      • Hardwood Cuttings
      • In the Garden: Re-potting Your Plants
      • Let There Be Light
      • Local Invention: Downpipe Garden
      • Maintaining Citrus During Winter
      • One Plant or Many: Creating Harmony in the Garden
      • Photography in the Garden
      • Plant Selection and Design Considerations
      • Protect Your Garden from Jack Frost this Winter
      • Save Time, Water and Money with No-Dig Gardening
      • Summer Pruning Fruit Trees
      • The Art of Pruning
      • The Key to Successful Seed Germination
      • Tree Borers
      • Tree Selection with Christine Rampling
      • Winter Maintenance and Preparing for Spring
      • Yates Nature’s Way Citrus & Ornamental
    • On The Forage Trail >
      • Chickweed
      • Fat Hen
      • Foods of the Forest: Canada
      • Fruits of the Forest, On a Roadside Near You
      • Native Raspberry
      • On the Bush Food Trail: Annual Celery
      • On the Bush Food Trail: Warrigal Greens
      • Purple Salsify
      • Shepherd’s Purse
      • Sticky Weed
      • The Overlooked Bounty - Free Food
      • In Season Now: Purple Salsify
    • Ornamental Plants >
      • Arbutus unedo
      • Growing Ferns in Cool Climates
      • Growing Indoor Plants
      • Indispensable: Rosemary
      • Loropetalum chinense 'Burgundy'
      • Pineapple Sage
      • Plants of Nepal
      • Root Nurture Grow: The Essential Guide to Propagating and Sharing Houseplants
      • Taxodium distichum
    • People & Places >
      • A Garden for all Seasons with Deb & Adrian
      • Ainslie Urban Farm
      • An Interesting Mix at Majura Vineyard
      • Aquaponics and Natural Beekeeping in Suburbia with Karen Dahl
      • Be Enchanted at VizArchie
      • Botanical Artist Cheryl Hodges
      • Cacti and Succulent Extravaganza
      • Canberra City Farm
      • Canberra Environment Centre: A whole lot more
      • Community Gardens Abroad
      • Crookwell Seed Potatoes
      • Edna Walling
      • Good Life Permaculture
      • Gardens on the Move with Barbara
      • Gardens to Visit in Vancouver BC
      • Goulburn Community Garden
      • Goulburn Wetlands: A transformed space for the Community
      • Handy Resource for Eating Seasonally in Canberra
      • Historic Calthorpes' House
      • Historic Kentgrove Goulburn
      • Kembla Cherry Orchard Royalla NSW
      • Lanyon Homestead
      • Melliodora Permaculture Gardens
      • Parkesbourne Produce
      • National Bonsai and Penjing Collection NAC
      • Out and About in Namadgi
      • Permaculture Systems with Organic Gardener Christine
      • Plants, Bees, Veggies and a Preserving Wonderland
      • Revered Bonsai Artist Tony Tickle Visits Canberra National Arboretum
      • Richard and Pheap's Garden
      • Royal Sydney Botanic Gardens
      • Roogulli Garden
      • Shona's Garden
      • STEP into Canberra's Local Plant Space
      • Suburban Permaculture at its Best
      • The Crisp Galleries
      • The Honeysmith
      • Think Global Act Local with Global Worming
      • Veg Engenders Community on Roseglen Farm
      • Village Life in Nepal
      • Westbourne Woods Arboretum
      • World Class Homeleigh Grove Olives
      • Wynlen House Farm
    • Preserving the Harvest >
      • Preserving Rhubarb
      • Preserving the Harvest
      • Rosehip Tea and Cordial
  • Recipes
    • Baba Ganoush
    • Barbara's Passionfruit Muffins
    • Chocolate & Feijoa Muffins
    • Curly Fries Slinky Style
    • Double Choc & Raspberry Muffins
    • Growing and Eating Globe Artichokes
    • Luscious Berry Ice Cream
    • Mediterranean Roast Vegetables
    • Quince Jelly
    • Rhubarb Chutney
    • Seasonal Garden Salad with Bocconcini and Sourdough Bread
    • Spicy Apple Muffins
    • Tabouleh-inspired Barley Salad
    • Warm Tomato Salad
    • Spicy Pumpkin Soup
  • Fact Sheets
    • Building and Maintaining Insect Hotels in Your Garden
    • Gardening in Pots
    • Preserving the Harvest
    • Propagation: New Plants from Old
    • The Art of Pruning
    • The No-Dig Garden
    • The Wonderful World of Composting
    • Veggie Gardening Basics
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                 The Wonderful World of Composting
Composting is the art of recycling garden and household refuse into a nutrient-abundant soil conditioner. Anyone can compost, and on any scale - your composting set-up can be as intensive or as basic as you like. Composting requires comparatively minimal input for maximum rewards, such as, nurturing enviously abundant plant life and a more sustainable living environment.
 
How you compost and what you choose to compost in will depend on factors such as, the time and space you have available, your gardening style, and whether you have young children, pets, or sizeable resident wildlife in your neighbourhood.
 
Manufactured compost bins are readily available in a variety of shapes, sizes and types. Or you can create your own using resources such as: recycled pallets, non-treated timber, concrete blocks or bricks, wire netting, plastic garbage bins with the bottoms cut out or bales of straw – it really is limited to your skill set and imagination.
 
For those who have small households, gardens, or perhaps no garden at all, you may like to compost using a low maintenance and space savvy worm farm or Bokashi bin.
 
Composting can be carried out aerobically or anaerobically, that is, with or without the assistance of air and heat. Aerobic or hot composting relies on adequate volume (the ideal size is one cubic metre), a complimentary ratio of carbon (brown) and nitrogen (green) ingredients, and regular turning to generate the desired heat to speed up decomposition. Aerobic composting can take as little as 18 days using the popular Berkeley method, but the average is 6 to 8 weeks.
 
Anaerobic or cold composting also requires a complimentary ratio of carbon and nitrogen ingredients but only requires turning occasionally, if at all. This method of composting requires significantly less labour, making it a better option for those short on time or who find physical work difficult. Anaerobic composting is a relatively slow process - depending on the situation, it can take 5 to 12 months for a well-aged product. 
 
Anything which is organic and hasn’t had oil or sodium added to it can go in the compost. In saying that, avoid using meat and dairy products if you are cold composting, have pets, or if you aren’t an experienced composter - the potential side effects will create odours and attract vermin. It is important to note that pet waste requires composting separately and isn’t suitable for use on edible crops. There are manufactured products available, or you can easily make your own.
 
As a handy starting point, create layers of approximately 25 parts carbon ingredients (examples include mulched deciduous leaves, shredded plain paper and cardboard, hair and fur, straw, untreated sawdust and straw); to 1 part nitrogen ingredients (examples include coffee grounds, kitchen scraps and organics from the garden). Mulching and shredding ingredients significantly speeds up the composting process, as does keeping your compost heap moist but not wet. To prevent odours and deter vermin, keep a stockpile of carbon ingredients on hand to cover your kitchen scraps as you go.
 
If you find your compost smells offensive or is wringing wet, add more carbon ingredients and a small handful of garden lime (optional), ensure it is adequately ventilated by giving it a turn, and keep it covered during periods of heavy rainfall. If your compost is dry and inactive, add moisture, add more nitrogen ingredients, and turn it thoroughly.
 
You can significantly increase the volume of compost you produce by sourcing ingredients from your local community. Examples include coffee grounds from your local café, shredded paper from workplaces, deciduous leaves from roadsides, and veggie scraps from workplaces and neighbours who don’t compost.
 
Handy Resources:
https://www.bokashi.com.au/
https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/free-range-worms/9437892
https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/
https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/e9a07ae9/files/uploaded/Tumbleweed%20WormFarm%20Instruction%20Manual.pdf
 
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Free-standing cubic metre composting method - cheap and easy to turn.
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