Making Compost by Tawanda Moyo

Introduction:

Compost is something that most people have heard about, made or used sometime during their life but few know how to make it to a high standard. Compost must be of high quality, free from weed seeds and any pathogens.

What is compost?

It is the use of fungi and bacteria in the decomposition of organic material. It is the aerobic decomposition by fungi and bacteria in a mixture of organic material. This means that in the presence of oxygen, the plant material will breakdown by the action of the bacteria and fungi.

Advantages of making compost

1. Easy to produce

2. Reliable quality to all

3. It is cheap

Ingredients Required

1. Green material

2. Dry material

3. Nitrogen

4. Water

5. Oxygen –is the air around us. We need to ensure that conditions in our compost are suitable for air penetration. We do this by not compacting our compost, turning on time, not adding too much water.

6. Micro-organisms: these are bacteria and fungi. Bacteria: primary decomposers, feed on plant sugars, reproduce rapidly, they create heat and they decompose complex carbons.

Making Compost