Winter is now with us. This is an important time of the year for gardeners and their compost bins. Checking the state of the compost in containers. If it’s dark and well rotted it’s time to harvest it and lay it over cleared ground as a mulch. This has the advantage or suppressing weeds and adding humus to the soil. Next if it still needs more time, physically move it into another bins next door. This will give the heap the more oxygen and put into a better position for using in the spring.
This should give you more space for putting the waste material that comes off the plot that has been all the part of enjoying a good harvest. Remember most waste can go in but any stalks like sweet corn, Brussels etc using secateurs or suitable cutters. Reducing the stalks to no more than 10 cm and in some cases hit them with a hammer to flatten them which helps the rotting process.
Leaf mould is also a valuable mulching material and this is the time of the year to collect it. It can take 3 to 5 years to rot down , depending on the tree/leaf type. However its well worth the wait. Over the last few years I have shortened the time by putting the leaves into builders bag with holes punched in the bottom with a fork. It works because the outside does not dry out like in a wired area. You can find these bags discarded in many a skip.
Good composting, John Young