Right let’s start with compost bins & compost heaps because that’s the most popular, compost bins can be your answer to better living. Why should you contribute to those already rammed to the max landfills when you can use your kitchen rubbish to save the world Granted, this may seem like a small step, but if more people were to take the initiative to Make the Most out of Composting it would be a major move in the right direction.
The basic process involves putting discarded vegetable, fruit, and paper waste into home composing bin or a heap, then letting microbial action take over to make the organic material decompose and become fertile garden soil that is rich in nutrients. If you live where there is clay, sandy, or other problem soil, you can use the composted soil to improve the quality of these poor soils.
The ideal compost bin is easily accessible, has no gaps in the sides and may be insulated with cardboard or straw, has a lid or covers and is located in a sunny or semi-shaded position directly on the soil or turf and away from water-courses
You can buy many types of composting bins some are better than others my favourite has to be the Earthmaker Compost Bin because it holds 466 Litres.
The Earthmaker is an easy and straightforward way of composting. It allows a continuous cycle of composting due to its three-layered chamber, simply place kitchen and garden waste into the top chamber, and using gravity, this earth maker provides an on-going source of compost which gathers in the bottom chamber.
Wormeries
A wormery is basically a worm farm, also known as a worm composting system, it is essentially a box or other self-contained system in which worms live and reproduce. Although this makes it sound like a wormery is built to breed worms, it’s actually used to break down food and plant matter into vermicompost like a compost pile or other composting system; it’s a way to recycle your kitchen scraps to make a rich, completely natural fertilizer – right in your own backyard.
Worms can eat up to half their own body weight every day and can double their population every 60-90 days. If you start your wormery with 1 kilo of mature worms they will consume up to 500g of food waste per day. After a few months you should have double your population and you can feed them more. As you become familiar with your system you will learn their rate of food consumption
The biggest benefit of a wormery is the vermicompost. (Worm manure) Vermicompost is an excellent fertilizer for plants and gardens, and research suggests that there is no alternative quite like it. Unlike animal manure, it has almost no scent, and it can be used on almost any type of plant plus most wormers come with a tap at the bottom of the wormery to drain out the liquid, now this liquid is like gold dust it is one of the best liquid fertilizers you can use.
One of the best wormeries you can buy has to be the Worm Café Wormery because it holds 161 Litres and is made from 100% recycled plastic plus no worm handling is necessary, it has 3 trays for your waste which makes emptying your wormery very easy.
My personal choice would be both because I have both and they work brilliantly together.
All my fruit trees look amazing and last year my apples, pears, gooseberries, strawberries and blackberries were the best yet, all because I worked in my wormery compost with the ground soil and always feed them my home made liquid gold fertilizer. Its highly recommended for the avid gardener.