Composting is a great way to produce the base materials of any garden, whether you are interested in growing vegetables, flowers, or in the less labour-intensive trees and shrubs.
And, let's face it, we do want our gardens to be the best, don't we, thriving because of the fabulous fertilizer, soil amendment and mulch that we can produce? The Challenge The challenge for most gardeners and would-be composters is to choose a compost system that they can stick with and not just toss aside when things don't go quite right.
This is where many new-comers and even some experienced gardeners fall by the way-side.
Some even give it up altogether.
This is a shame, because the rewards for pushing on and sticking to it are tremendous, both for your plants and for you.
The Good News The good news is that none of this bad stuff is necessary.
There is one powerful tool that can help you enormously and that tool is called 'planning'.
It is free! Just spending some time planning your project properly will go a long way to alleviating any problems that may arise, because you will have an understanding about what you are taking on and you will be prepared to deal with any set-backs.
You will have selected a method appropriate to your circumstances, one that will produce enough compost to make a difference and that will ensure that the work involved does not become drudgery.
Step 1 - Choose the right compost system for you.
Ask all the right questions and your answers will identify the system that will be most likely to lead to success.
Ask questions such as - how much room do I have available? How much money do I want to spend? How much time and energy do I want to give? Am I physically fit? Do I want to compost in the garden or indoors? How much waste do I have? Can I scrounge from friends and neighbours? There are lots of questions to ask and the more you ask, the deeper you dig, the more likely you are to choose correctly the first time round.
Step 2 - Once you have decided on your system, (or indeed systems) you will need to acquire something suitable to compost in.
This will be dictated to some degree by your method of choice, but you will still have to opt whether or not to go the simple, low-cost route of DIY, or whether will you succumb to the seductive murmurings of the husky-voiced, gardening shop sales assistants and consider a commercially manufactured unit with, or without, all the whistles and bells.
Step 3 - The final step is deciding where to site your compost and, this will largely be dependent on the size of your garden and the type of composting you have chosen to do.
Once again - ask the right questions and the answers will dictate your decision.
You do not want your bin to be a half-mile walk from the house, for example, if you are going to be composting mainly kitchen waste! Composting can be an extremely therapeutic pastime.
For many people, it can be a pain in the neck.
It is certainly a source of the best fertiliser, mulch and potting mix on the planet and it can be achieved with minimum cost.
How to Get Started.
You can get started right now.
Good planning will ensure that the decisions you make will result in a project that you will enjoy working on, which will provide a worthwhile challenge and some great rewards.
(and that's not to mention the benefits to our planet) Go on - just try it!