Garden Organic Guide to Making Compost

RE-ISSUE Learn how to keep your plants strong and healthy, how to produce beautiful fruit, vegetables and flowers, and how to keep your patio and house plants healthy. The book guides your through all the stages, from why you should compost, what you can compost, building a simple heap and containers, to how to use your compost, supplementing your compost with green manures, and how to retain water. Beautifully illustrated, with step-by-step photographs and illustrations throughout, the pages are packed with practical advice and helpful information.

Table of Contents:
* Strong recycling theme * Strong revival of interest in gardening without chemicals following media coverage of the harmful results of using pesticides, etc * Pauline Pears runs/oversees the organic gardening centre - HDRA * Series title

About the Author :
Pauline Pears lives in Leamington Spa. She is Head of Knowledge Transfer, and editor of The Organic Way magazine, at Garden Organic. She has been involved in the practice and promotion of organic growing for over 20 years, and is still a passionate organic vegetable grower. She and her husband cultivate two organic allotments, as well as growing fruit and vegetables at home. Pauline has written several other books in this series.

Review :
Every household generates a lot of waste products, but after separating them for collection there is still a lot left. Why not benefit your garden by putting in a compost heap or bin? For beginners there seem to be a lot of do's and don'ts to take into consideration so it can seem daunting; here is a book which lifts the lid on how to do it properly. This truly is a really good book. I'm no gardener but I am very into green issues and have a garden, so was keen to learn. As gardening does not interest me especially I didn't want to plough through lengthy treatises on the subject, I just wanted what a lot of people want-a greener way of disposing of my waste. To make this book extra user friendly, every page has lots of photographs with captions telling you how, why and what. For example, there are pictures of what to compost, what not to compost, different options on heaps and bins available, how products compost etc. I found I was learning all the basics I needed to know very easily. There is advice on how to use your compost, making a worm bin (at last I know why mine failed!) and "green compost" plants like winter tares to plant for soil benefit. I particularly liked the last section showing alternative ways of using some waste products normally thrown away. such as yoghourt pots, polystyrene packaging, car tires, plastic bottles and lolly sticks. One for my keeper shelf, and one that also got me thinking about why the way the book is written and presented makes it so readable and useful. Maybe now my worm bin might work...-Myshelf.com