Compost making with Jez Taylor – vlog

Compost can improve soil fertility through supplying mineral fertilisers such as potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen and it can help to strongly influence the soil carbon storage which is also an important factor of soil fertility.

Jez Taylor, head of the market garden at Daylesford Organic Farm shares his recipe for making compost. He talks us through his top tips and secret ingredients(!) for a healthy heap at each stage of the composting process:⠀

• Air and moisture are key to the biological activity needed to breakdown organic matter and cellulose, so creating volume and containing your compost heap are both important.
• Use a mixture of ingredients. Include materials that break down quickly; kitchen waste, grass cuttings, plant prunings and ash, with slow releasing materials that provide fibre, carbon and air pockets such as cardboard, eggshells and foliage.
• Regular turning is key to speeding up the composting process. Indicators of a healthy heap include the presence of worms after approximately four months. After a year, the compost should be ready for a final sort and sieve before mixing and using.⠀

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