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Hi new gardener.
Compost is like a recipe and 'cooks' faster if you have the right mix of ingredients. You can put most things in and they will rot but they may take forever. I recall digging out a leaf bin once at a country house that had been there for over ten years and when I reached the bottom, there were holly leaves that were still complete.
As a rule, chopped up soft plant material will do well but must be mixed with dry material or you will just get a mushy blob. Animal manure is fine providing the animal is a herbivore. Leaves are good if used in small enough quantities. If you have access to a lot of leaves, make a seperate stack. Try not to add minerals like sand or gravel or any stoney content as this will add nothing to the process.
Paper, thin card if shredded and raw kitchen peelings and vegatitive waste are great too but do not add cooked food or any meat. Raw vegatable matter are the key ingredients. No processed food at all so stale bread or tinned food is out. That won't rot, will bring in all the wrong bacteria and attract vermin in the process. Weeds can go in if they are annuals and if they are not seed heads. Try not to put roots of weeds in if they are pernicious persistent weeds or grass roots.
For a new gardener, you can't go far wrong with a compost bin from the local council department and a regular supply of grass clippings, kitchen waste and manure from a stable or even from a rabbit or guinea pig hutch.Be security conscious and shred your bills then add them too. No one will be reading them once it's rotted down and covered in old soggy teabags. Just put the milk in your tea after you take the bag out. We don't want dairy in the compost.We do want eggshells though. Dry, crushed eggshells.
As for those thick stems and big stuff, I add it but after I've passed it through a garden shredder to chop it finely.Again, it will be quite dry tough stuff so grass clippings or something soggy to balance the mixture will help.Like the leaves, not too much woody stuff, chopped or not. Remember, everything in moderation.
Time wise, I tend to leave mine about eight to ten months or as a guide, start when you start cutting the lawn and finish when you stop in the winter. If you then leave it untouched then until the following spring, it should be just about ready. Take a good look, the bottom layers will be ready first but you should see a dark, slightly moist warm mix that resembles rough cake mix or large breadcrumbs with the odd stick in it.
While you wait for it to rot down, why not read back through some of my blogs. I think I wrote a few about composting. I'll add some more for you.
The Green Knight
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