Winter is the perfect time to start prepping your garden for the warmer months that lay ahead. But rather than using chemicals and industrial fertilizers (which can be damaging for insects, and often rather expensive), you can use kitchen scraps to make potent, sustainable, effective compost in the comfort of your home.
Fruit and vegetable peels
Before you throw away those precious peels, remember this: your plants will love them! So save any and all fruit and vegetable peels for your compost heap.The outer skins of items of fresh produce like apples, potatoes, cucumbers, and carrots are packed with nutrients and break down easily during the composting process. Before adding the peels to your compost heap, be sure to give them a quick wash just to ensure that there are no pesticides making their way into your garden.
Tea bags
After enjoying a cup of tea, give those leave and sticks new life in the garden. Tear open the bags and empty the leaves into your compost heap. It turns out that tea leaves are a valuable source of organic matter and nitrogen. They break down quickly, infusing your compost with essential nutrients.
Coffee grounds
If you’re making fresh coffee at home, you’re likely to have a lot of used coffee grounds on your hands. Coffee grounds are a rich source of nitrogen, making them ideal for composting. Their fine texture helps air out the soil, but surprising also with moisture retention in the compost pile. It’s a win-win!
Eggshells
After breakfast, save those eggshells, your garden will thank you! Eggshells can be a powerful addition to your compost heap as they contain calcium, which helps plants build strong cell walls and aids in disease prevention, surprisingly, they also act as a natural pest deterrent. Rinse out the eggshells and let them dry before crushing them into small pieces and adding them to your compost heap.
Nut shells
If you happen to love nuts, you might find yourself with a handful of shells every now and again. Save these, as your compost heap will benefit from them greatly. Not only do they contain powerful nutrients that are released into your garden soil over time, because they are more coarse than most composting materials, they also assist in structure and drainage.
Ready to start composting, and wondering where to start? We have you covered with this comprehensive step-by-step guide. Click here to start composting today.
