Try this system to compost as much as possible in your garden | Gardening 101 | Gardening Australia

Compost is certainly something you hear about a lot on Gardening Australia. And it’s easy to see why. It improves the fertility, drainage and water-holding capacity of soil, sequesters carbon, and making it means you’re not constantly sending kitchen scraps and garden waste to the tip. Best of all it’s free and easy to do. Subscribe 🔔 ab.co/GA-subscribe
A serious food production effort like Jerry’s garden can’t exist without compost, and so Jerry has a multitude of different ways of creating it. He’s going to show us through his systems for composting as much as possible in his garden, and how he makes sure as much organic waste as possible is turned into this garden gold.
Jerry has 3 working compost bins on the go all year round. One is for kitchen waste, one for leaf mould, and one for garden waste.
Kitchen Waste:
Jerry says “kitchen waste materials are often wet and rich in nitrogen” compared to garden waste. This means they’re more likely to get soggy, rotten and not compost properly. So for his kitchen waste bin Jerry is mindful to balance with an extra carbon-rich dry material on top. Striking this balance means the compost will break down evenly, and avoid going putrid. Jerry says you need to provide “nitrogen for the bacteria (in the pile) who work more quickly, as this is their preferred food. Fungi (in the pile) are more thorough, and work slower, feeding on carbon”.
To strike this balance in his kitchen waste bin, Jerry applies carbon-heavy leaves from his bamboo plant after he puts in a load of scraps, like making a lasagne.
Jerry’s recipe for a continually thriving compost pile is kitchen scraps, dry material layer, horse manure layer and then a wet down. “Think about what goes in, and balance. I will hold inputs back for a time when they can meet the balance.”
Leaf Mould:
Leaf mould is a garden staple, made entirely out of decayed, composted leaves. It’s used for everything from potting mix to surface mulch. Traditionally made of the falling leaves from winter deciduous trees, Brisbanite Jerry says “I don’t have that luxury here”.
Instead, Jerry creates his precious leaf mould out of chopped bamboo leaves left to compost and break down over months. Jerry uses the dark, damp, spongy and moist material as a surface mulch “around soft leaved plants that enjoy cool roots year round”, like palms and caladiums. You can also use lawn clippings or fallen evergreen leaves to make leaf mould.
General Garden Waste:
Jerry says using the layered, lasagne technique is also useful for his general garden waste bin. The first layer should be something like straw, to allow water to drain and oxygen to penetrate. Jerry uses woody vine prunings as a carbon rich material.
Jerry also uses his garden waste compost bin break down horse manure, and important step before applying it to his garden. “I always compost it because it deals with weed seeds, and worm treatments or persistent herbicides also break down”. He applies the horse manure in layers, on top of the dry material.
Say Hello to My Little Friends:
To keep the compost factory ticking over, Jerry isn’t afraid of enlisting a little help. We all know about compost worms, but Jerry’s got a new recruit. Enter the Surinam cockroach! Jerry deliberately conscripted this little insect to help keep his compost pile ticking over, sourcing it from a community garden. “This beneficial species lives exclusively in the garden, favouring damp leaf litter, mulch and topsoil. In a warm climate, Surinam cockroaches are the equal of composting worms”.
Sin Bin:
However some things remain stubborn, even in the face of Jerry’s multi-layered approach. “Some things are too difficult to compost” says Jerry. Hidden under the house he keeps a bucket with 1 litre of water in it, known as “the sin bin”. Here is the final destination for things that refuse to break down.
Featured Species and Plants:
SURINAM COCKROACH - Pycnoscelus surinamensis
CASSAVA - Manihot esculenta cv.
SNAKE PLANT - Dracaena sp. *
* Check before planting: this may be an environmental weed in your area
Filmed on Quandamooka, Turrbal & Yuggera Country | Brisbane, Qld
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