Make your own compost

 

You will need to ask your parents for help with this project as it involves a lot of hard work! Compost can be made all year round, but if you start in spring your compost will be ready by autumn of the same year.

 

·         You can make your compost in a special compost bin or simply make a heap in an area at the bottom of your garden

 

·         The following items from your garden and kitchen can all be added to the compost heap:

• grass clippings
• dead leaves
• other green waste from the garden (ie. old plants & tops of weeds)
• vegetable peelings
• fruit scraps
• tea bags
• shredded paper (not shiny magazines though)
• cotton and wool material
• eggshells
• contents of your hamster or gerbil cage (when you clean it out)

 

 

·         Next, add some soil into the compost bin, and cover it with an old piece of carpet or a mat.

 

·         Now leave it alone until you have some more waste to add to it. Everything will start breaking down and rotting, forming compost.

 

·         After 3 or 4 months you can remove the cover and dig the compost over (you will probably need some help with this!). Leave it alone again to let it rot down even further.

 

·         You’ll know it’s ready when the bottom of the compost has broken down into a rich brown and crumbly soil.

 

·         You can now use your home-made compost on your garden to feed your plants and help them grow!