8/7/2019 Making cold compost (part 3): a step-bystep guide with Abbie and Mark Jury.

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Making coldcompost (part 3): a step-by-

stepguidewithAbbie andMarkJury.

In an earlier Classroom, we looked at making hot compost where heathelps the breakdown. Cold compost, where the work is done by worms,

is by far the most common form of home compost. You don’t needial facilities - a pile on the ground, compost bins or a netting ring are allIt needs to sit on dirt so the worms can move in. You are aiming to build

bout a cubic metre of composting material at a time.2

The ingredients and ratios are the same as for hot compost but becausecold compost is not usually turned, it is better to build it in layers.

Nitrogen comes from green waste (fresh leaves, vegetable scraps, lawnclippings etc) and this can be up to 60% of your mix. Carbon comes fromdried leaves and stalky vegetation along with all the twiggy bits and thisshould comprise 40 to 50% of the mix. The carbon also traps air in the mixtureand stops it turning to a sludgy mess.

3

Do not put in seed heads or diseased foliage or plants. Without heat, theseeds and diseases will survive and when you spread your compost, you

will be spreading them throughout the garden.

The usual advice is that citrus peel and egg shells should not beadded but we ignore that because we have large quantities ofcitrus peel to dispose of. The worms ignore it and it rots down

s own accord. However it pays not to add meat which will attracts, cats and rats. If you are adding newspaper, scrunch it up firstcomes out at the end of the process pretty much as it went in.spaper counts as carbon content.

5The compost worms will arrive of their own accord. Striped tiger wormsare the most common. If you are worried, you can buy them or transferthem from a worm farm but it is not necessary. If your compost pile gets

sludgy and smelly, you do not have enough carbon content and it may haveinsufficient air (oxygen).

6When you have about acubic metre of layered mix,cover the heap or bin.

Some people use old woollencarpet. Other options areheavy duty plastic, boards orcorrugated iron. We use oldweedmat weighed down soit does not blow off. Withcold compost, it will take atleast six months before itis ready to use and it maytake longer over thecolder months of theyear. But at the end ofthat, you should have aclean mix which is easyto handle and

nutritious in the garden.It is usually best to work 

with a row of compostheaps, or at least three -

one you are building, onethat is maturing and one

that is being used.

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