Find the right site for your bin
Ideally site your compost bin in a sunny position and place on bare soil so that it allows creatures and worms to come into your bin.
If you have to put your compost bin on concrete, tarmac or patio slabs ensure there’s a layer of paper and twigs or existing compost on the bottom.
Choose a place where you can easily add ingredients to the bin and get the compost out.
Add the right ingredients
Have a container available such as a kitchen caddy or old ice cream tub to fill with everything from vegetable and fruit peelings to teabags, toilet roll tubes, cereal boxes and eggshells. Take care not to compost cooked food, meat or fish.
Fill it up
Empty your kitchen caddy along with your garden waste into your compost bin. A 50/50 mix of greens and browns is the perfect recipe for good compost.
Wait a while
It takes between nine and twelve months for your compost to become ready for use, so now all you need to do is wait and let nature do the work. Keep on adding greens and browns to top up your compost.
Ready for use
Once your compost has turned into a crumbly, dark material, resembling thick, moist soil and gives off an earthy, fresh aroma, you know it’s ready to use.
Removing the compost
Lift the bin slightly or open the hatch at the bottom and scoop out the fresh compost with a garden fork, spade or trowel.
Use it
Your compost probably won't look like the compost you buy in the shops. It's very likely that yours will still have twigs and eggshell in it. Don't worry... it's still perfectly good to use! Simply sift out any larger bits and return them to your compost bin.
Your fresh compost has everything your plants need, including nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Use it to enrich borders and vegetable patches, plant up patio containers or feed the lawn.
