How good is compost? You throw a bunch of organic waste into a pile, it heats up, and these things called microbes come along to transform your rubbish into a precious garden commodity! The earth has been doing this forever, locked in an endless cycle of growth, death, decay, compost and fertilisation. Nutrients are reused again and again. In this way, composting is the ultimate form of recycling, and there is no greater satisfaction than seeing those tangible results in your own garden.

Fully matured compost is pH neutral and can be used to propagate seeds, but when added to your patch holistically it’s like a shot in the vein. It contains a broad spectrum of nutrients and all the essential trace elements so that it not only boosts a plant’s growth, but also the overall activity of life in your soil. Compost is the number one candidate for making soil into something living and correcting any imbalances. It wins Soil Additive of the Year hands down every year.

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In early 2012, we referred new house owners (and young parents of 3 children) Tineke and Hamish to Lucas from Libertas Gardens. They had recently taken possession of a 900m2 property in inner Melbourne (Kew), with a house that was in need of a substantial renovation and garden calling out for a full makeover.

A couple of weeks ago Lucas and the owners invited us to the house to check out their work. We were blown away. So much so we asked Lucas to talk through the process, and the elements of the garden/house. We hope this will provide some inspiration for anyone looking to become more self sufficient while living a city lifestyle.

From Lucas, Libertas Gardens

At first look, the task of designing and building their dream outdoor space seemed monumental. Like most neglected blocks, theirs was a dense thicket of self-invited trees, very old and tired ornamental plants and lots of ‘weeds’.

The brief was clear and exciting. The garden was to be visually striking, highly productive, extremely child-friendly and relatively easy to maintain. It fitted the exact description of a dream project for me. This family wanted it all: fruit trees, veggie patches, chickens, aquaponics, a herb garden, a large lawn space and entertainment area, play space for the kids, artworks, water tanks and a swimming pool. Within just a few months of exchange and brainstorming, a plan had emerged. We devised a construction timeline that would tie in smoothly with the house renovation.

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It’s hard to ignore the collective change in behaviour when it comes to our recycling and composting habits. At last we’re beginning to see waste from a different perspective - the ‘wasteful’ one - and we are now considering the cycle of our unnecessary rubbish. Like the one use plastic bag to hold some groceries, or the coffee cup that we thought was recyclable, and in particular, the organic matter that should always head towards a composting unit.

Composting has always been limited by our behavioural habits. With the exception of a few, most will chose whatever option is the easiest and that takes the mess the furthest from our minds. Conventional home composting is often seen as too unsightly, too messy or too inefficient to consider. The smaller the scale, the more that these functionality problems are pronounced.

For one, even the smallest composting bins are large, hulking objects. Not only will they take up valuable garden real estate - that fewer people have - but in a world of increasing garden vanity, a tower of black plastic is never the object of desire we want it to be, yet alone fit in most peoples’ yards. Another issue is that they are easily infiltrated by pests.  A lot of compost bins are open at the bottom, which means that any motivated rat with a little initiative need only to dig a couple of centimetres to reach a sumptuous vegetarian buffet.

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Feeding Worms from The Little Veggie Patch Co on Vimeo.

Worms can be your best friend, but you have to give them a chance. Don't heap giant food scraps into the compost and expect them to do the hard work. Instead, chop food scraps into worm-sized treats and watch them produce beautiful soil.

Check out our range of COMPOSTING PRODUCTS

Stinky compost need not persist!  Learn how to make a compost aerator.

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