You can help with composting by collecting and bringing in your food scraps or helping us turn or spreading the compost.

Turning the compost

We make a lot of compost and part of this process includes turning the piles to mix it’s contents and most importantly, to add oxygen and water. It is the adding of oxygen and water that makes the compost heat up, which accelerates the process of decomposition AND cooks any of the annoying weed seeds and roots that we are trying to recycle.

We have 4 bays, one contains the compost made this week, through to compost that was made 4 weeks ago.

The process of turning compost starts with the bay containing the oldest compost. This needs to be emptied, into a stock pile (or preferably directly onto an area of the garden).

Now that we have an empty bay, the contents of bay 3 can be moved into bay 4. This should be wet down a little with a hose as you go if the pile is looking dry or not heating up. Bay 2 then gets moved into bay 3 (all piles get water added).

Finally bay 1 gets moved into bay 2, leaving an empty spot for the creation of a fresh pile of compost.

Bonus points

• Naturally we do not want any rubbish in our soil, so it is good to pull it out when you see it.
• Help egg shells along in their journey, by smashing them into calcium-flakes!
• Give those microbes a leg up and break up big pieces of crap. Pretend you’re making them a stir fry.

Compost extraordinaire wanted!

Collecting and bringing in your food scraps

All our compost is pre-fermented using the bokashi method. This is because we don’t want moldy, smelly, slimy crapola going in – that’s not compost.

Check out Newcastle City Council’s workshops and discounts on bokashi bins. To learn how to do it.

Alternatively, we can supply you with a 20L bucket and a pile of bokashi newspaper that we made ourselves. Hardcore 🤘.

We don’t really want biodegradable bags in our compost because they seem to hang around and the food waste goes gross inside them. I think they’re better for council+truck style compost. Same goes for all compostable single use products. These are only really a good solution when paired with a big centralised council system which collects, transports and shreds all the waste- which we don’t have in Newcastle unfortunately. So… wash up?

Using the compost

Finished compost can be spread out under fruit trees or to freshen up garden beds. If the soil is dry, dusty and devoid of crawlies… chuck some compost on it. Spread mulch on top of the compost to retain moisture and life.