Composting
Composting can be split into three different approaches, depending on what one is trying to achieve. Here a link to a concise guide produced by Limerick County Council on the subject.
- Composting to reduce waste going to bin
- Composting for garden
- Composting without a garden (eg living in a flat or appartment)
There are two great systems out that will compost organic waste quickly with the least amount of trouble, the Rolls Royce of Composting Systems is the Big Pig Composting bin. (see picture below) This waste is put in an insulated tumbler and turn once a day to aerate, it take approximately 6 weeks for the organic matter to break down. The second system equally can be quite trouble free and address one of the major issues relating to Composting is the Green Cone. This is a bin which is 2/3 buried in the ground and there is a cone put above ground. Once set up, essentially the system requires very little maintenance. However, it may require moving annual or when the material in the bin have reached surface level. You can make a homemade composting cone, instructions can be downloaded here, however they are quite large, hence quite slow.
Composting for the garden
There is a wide range of composting bins available for the garden, many are reviewed on the internet. Cork and Limerick County Councils have a plastic bins available at a reduced rate. Essentially, with these bins to make them work at optimum efficiency one should layer the materials going into the bin alternating between materials high in carbon (browns) and materials high in nitrogen (greens). (click to download composting guide with further information) When use a composting bin it is also important to site it away from full sunlight as it can get too warm, and for obvious reasons not on in a wind (exposed) area. They also have to be monitored to ensure they don’t get to dry or too wet. If the contents of the bin are tending towards a smelly dark mix, this is time to aerate the heap, to do this there are available on the market cork screw aerators or the old system is to turn the heap by using a pick fork.
Composting without a garden
One of the ways of doing this, is by using a wormery. This is a compact composting system using the capacity of worms to speed up the process of composting. When run correctly its extremely effective and creates very little by products just a little compost and some worm “tea” a very potent fertilizer. Regrettably, worms are a type of livestock and can require a bit of looking after and one has to be careful to not allow the system to get too cold, hot, acidic or alkaline, and ensure the worms have enough oxygen. They also can be tricky to build sufficient numbers of worms to work a full capacity. The can-o-worms is one of the most common wormeries available on the market.
