How do I make compost? The Hot Heap Route:

You can make compost simply by adding compostable items to a compost heap when you feel like it. It will all rot eventually but may take a long time, may not produce a very pleasant end product, and could smell.

If you want to produce more compost in a short time, and are able to put more effort into it, follow the 'HOT HEAP' route.

The Hot Heap route

1. Gather enough material to fill your compost container at one go. Bring in manure, scraps from the market, neighbours' weeds and so on to make up the bulk. Make sure you have a mixture of soft and tough materials.

2. Chop up tough items using shears, a sharp spade (lay items out on soil or grass to avoid jarring) or a shredder.

3. Mix ingredients together as much as possible before adding to the container. In particular, mix items, such as grass mowings, that tend to settle and exclude air, with more open items that tend to dry out. Fill the container as above, watering as you go.

4. Within a few days, the heap is likely to get hot to the touch. When it begins to cool down, or a week or two later, turn the heap. Remove everything from the container or lift the container off and mix it all up, trying to get the outside to the inside. Add water if it is dry, or dry material if it is soggy. Replace in the bin.

5. The heap may well heat up again; the new supply of air you have mixed in allows the fast acting aerobic microbes, ie those that need oxygen, to continue with their work. Step 4 can be repeated several more times if you have the energy, but the heating will be less and less. When it no longer heats up again, leave it undisturbed to finish composting.

When is it ready?

Compost can be made in six to eight weeks, or it can take a year or more. In general, the more effort you put in, the quicker you will get compost.

When the ingredients you have put in your container have turned into a dark brown, earthy smelling material, the composting process is complete. It is then best left for a month or two to 'mature' before it is used. Don't worry if you compost is not fine and crumbly. Even if it is lumpy, sticky or stringy, with bits of twig and eggshell still obvious, it is quite usable.

Back to What can be composted?

Cool Heap Route

Compost Hints & Tips