Steve Oh’s article is an excellent article.
What a privilege to have so much good composting materials at hand.
There are minor differences between Perth and Malaysia.
Malaysia has tropical weather with higher temperature and higher humility. The decomposition process will be faster.
My tyres method in my house have given me fly larvae to feed my tilapia fish and possible honey bees honey.
This is because I had left a gap between the tyres for flies to lay their eggs in the compost and bees to make the hive.
So far no rodents visited my compost heap even though l deposit all kitchen wastes like egg shell, meat and bones etc in the heap.
Patrick Loo, Seremban Home Gardens
I live in Perth but successfully helped a resort in Malaysia do composting and rescued their trees and plants from undernourishment. Their reliance on chemical fertilisers was akin to humans relying on vitamins to stay alive. But compost was what the soil needed.
I salvaged wood from factories and there is no shortage of ingredients to have them cooked by hardworking 24/7 bacteria. It cost them nothing and they saved thousands of ringgits in cost of fertilisers savings.
In Perth my backyard is an entire compost factory as I make copious quantities of compost for my hungry trees on Perth’s notorious nutrient-deficient silicate water-repelling soil, or rather sand, within a 5-acre block for my new house.
Grass clippings often with dry leaves regularly supplied by a lawn mowing contractor provide the base for my compost. In Summer, in full sun, my compost is ready in a month or so, as long as I keep the ingredients moist and oxygenated.
THE RECIPE INCLUDES
1. Green materials ( fresh lawn clippings or dry ( still considered green)
2. Brown materials – dry leaves, cardboard boxes (shredded)
3. Oxygen – container must have airflow or ingredients must be be stirred periodically. Too wet it becomes smelly, too dry the bacteria cannot thrive.
4. Water.
The use of tyres is not so effective as it lacks aeration and you can only produce a limited amount but its great for harvesting. Just remove the tyres. Depending on demand and space constraints, your compost bins can be big or small but black is the preferred colour to retain heat, while not essential, will speed up the cooking process. The heat makes bacteria thrive in the humid space. When you poke your thumb in the pile it should be hot in the beginning stage and get cooler as the composting process nears completion.
Your end product is black and a pleasant smelling product ready for your hungry soil. The quality of your compost depends on the ingredients. Some things you don’t want to use is oil and meat. Meat leftovers attract rodents. But a green compost pile one with edible fruit leftovers will attract them too.
I’m a compulsive compost producing gardener and will be happy to help anyone in Perth establish a compost-making activity. Feel free to contact me via the editors who will give you my contact details.
My compost once gave me a 25 kilogram water melon. Gardening is about having great soil and composting does the trick and its free. It is nature’s way of gardening. You become good through trial and error and anyone can cook great compost once they know the simple steps and essential recipe.
Steve Oh
