Craig Renton from Suffolk Master Composters gave a lively and interesting talk about composting for the amateur gardener.
Craig’s role at Suffolk County Council involves training volunteers to work with their communities and spread the word about the how, when and what to compost. He was keen to highlight that despite the term ‘Master Composter’ there is always something knew to learn about the process.
The benefits of home composting include the fact that it is free, making use of what we might otherwise throw away, What is produced is peat free, nutrient rich material which is great for the garden. The process is a positive way of reducing your carbon footprint and supporting the environment.
Craig gave advice on key elements of composting, such as considering where to site the compost bin, the importance of turning the contents to aerate the composting materials and some thoughts on what should and should not go in to the average persons compost. For example, while paper is compostable, a lot of junk mail has plasticised printing on it and it is better to put this in the recycling bin than to compost it.
The talk concluded with information about ‘activators’ such as nettles and comfrey. Craig also talked about others ways to compost such as using a Wormery or the latest trend of Hot Bin or Bokashi compositing.
