Boxing Day Compost

While the post-Christmas discount sales tempt many at this time of year, we decided to compost instead! 

Outside, under a warm blue sky, we cleared the spent sunflowers and tired cucumber vines from our veggie patch. We then gently levelled the newly cleared patch ready for a layer of our own "homemade" compost. What used to be our waste; garden clippings, veggie scraps, dry leaves and shredded paper; had broken down into a rich, earthy compost in our rotating barrels. 

 Garden goodness from our composting barrels.

Scooping up handfuls, I knew it was ready for the garden; crumbly and earthy (not stinky) and full of goodness to feed our soil. We spread it over our veggie patch and around our mandarin tree too before "icing" it with a thin layer of lucerne mulch.  Now, we'll wait for the worms to do their work underground, incorporating the new compost, while the soil rests over the remainder of the summertime. 

One of our hardworking worms.

To complete the cycle and start making new compost, we filled one of our empty barrels with all the plant material we had cleared from our patch, crispy dry leaves and veggie peelings. We secured the lid and gave it a good spin to mix it all up and aerate it. In time, it will break down and make new compost for us to use in the garden.

Veggie patch scraps waiting to go into a composting barrel.

To me, the process of composting and feeding our soil is so much more satisfying than finding any Boxing Day bargain. It returns material to our Earth that would otherwise end up in landfill and costs us nothing. Do you compost at your place? Do you have any composting tips to share?