Confessions of a compulsive composter...

A good compost heap really is the cornerstone of the healthy and abundant garden.
The compost I make in my ramshackle wooden compost heaps and in the tardis shaped plastic bins that are dotted around the veg garden and allotment really is the stuff of life itself.
I layer my bins up rather like making a huge (albeit slightly stinky) lasagne with layers of brown carbon rich waste (straw,cardboard,twigs) interspersed with green waste (grass cuttings, flowers, veg trimmings etc). I also add chicken, turkey, duck, quail and rabbit pooh to the mix...that's some lasagne!
Despite trying our hardest to waste as little food as possible and although we feed a great deal veg to the menagerie we still manage to compost a ridiculous amount of waste each week. Egg shells, flowers, peelings, tea bags (split the bag first) and shredded envelopes (avoid glossy paper) all go into the compost pail and then out into the garden or up to the allotment. Once you start thinking outside the box you'll be surprised at what can be added to the heap or even direct to the garden. Pine needles and coffee granules are excellent as a top dressing around Blueberries and wood ash can be added in small quantities to the heap or scattered around the those veg that appreciate a potash rich soil.
Avoid adding cooked food or any waste from animals that aren't strict vegetarians unless you're the lucky owner of a hot composter in which case the variety of things that you can compost will be much wider.
As long as you allow plenty of air to circulate between the layers and turn regularly you should be rewarded with a compost that's dark in colour has no unpleasant smell and is speckled with worms...your garden will thank you for it

( Imaginatively titled ) First Post....

When I announced to a friend that I was planning to start blogging she snorted into her tea, made a couple of quips about Gwyneth Paltrow and then asked me what on earth I was going to write about and more importantly who on earth I thought might read what I'd written...
She has a point. There are literally thousands of blogs out there, some are witty, informative and well written and then there are the rest...The really great blogs make us feel positive when we read them. They make us smile; sometimes they even make us cry. They share experiences and information with their readers and make the world seem a much smaller place (in a good way). The blogs I love to read are varied in their content, gardening, lifestyle, fashion, but are united in the way they make me feel...they all raise a smile and maximise the joy that's to be found in everyday life.
I hope that this blog does the same for someone else, that it makes them smile or even laugh out loud; even if it's at my expense x