Expert Advice

Spring is a wonderful time to use the compost that you’ve been preparing through the year, but first of all you need to make sure it’s ready to go.

The first thing to do is start a new compost heap – that way you’ll leave the existing one to mature! Then get out your ‘Compost Mate’ spiral-mixing tool and mix the old one every week – that will speed up decomposition.

As the days warm up, the microbes and worms in your compost will become more active, so they’ll need some extra nutrition. Add some extra ‘Compost Conditioner’ and a few handfuls of chicken or cow manure each week.

It’s also important to protect your compost from drying heat. Cover it up with a Tumbleweed circular Can-O-Worms blanket, a hessian sack or an old woollen jumper.

How do I know when my compost is ready?

Your compost will be ready when it’s a rich dark colour and the organic matter is completely broken down.  You’ll notice it has a beautiful earthy smell.

Use your Compost Mate to pull the most mature compost from the bottom of the pile then spread it over your garden beds and dig it in. Now its ready to plant!

PS… If you don’t have a ‘Compost Mate’ already, I suggest you get one! They are ‘the best thing since sliced bread’, for mixing, aerating, and speeding-up your compost!

Those small flies are called vinegar flies or Drosophila melanogaster and they indicate that there is not enough oxygen in your organic waste for aerobic decomposition.

When your organic waste doesn’t have the oxygen it needs to decompose effectively, microbes called anaerobes become active and multiply. They give off gasses that attract Vinegar flies.

How can I get rid of them?

You need to get more oxygen into your compost to encourage aerobic decomposition of the organic waste.

Rotate your tumbler every day.

Aerate the waste by mixing equal volumes of carbon material (fine woody mulches, and small twiggy leaf litter), with richer nitrogen/protein materials (food scraps, manures, fresh grass clippings).

The contents of your tumbler may have become too acidic. Sprinkle a good dusting of Tumbleweed Worm Farm and Compost Conditioner into the tumbler every two or three weeks. Being alkaline, the conditioner will help maintain the correct pH and minimise anaerobic activity.

Regularly empty the mixed ingredients from your tumbler and allow it to ‘mature’ in a compost bin on the ground.

Happy Tumbling!

Yes you can add bread to your compost but please note:

Bread is very attractive to rodents, so it is essential to put a 'rodent exclusion' system at the base of your compost bins. 

Get a flat piece of galvanised tin sheeting and cut a circular piece with a diameter larger than the base of your compost bin. Drill 40 or 50 holes in the tin sheet so that water can drain out and worms can come into the heap from the soil. Aeration is a key to good composting. Also try and break the pieces of waste bread up into small pieces so they decompose more quickly.

Remember "Variety is the Spice of Life" so ensure that you are putting in lots of other different organic matter in with the bread waste.  Happy Composting.  Pete rutherford