Make magical soil these holidays

American country music superstar and comedy legend, Bette Midler once proclaimed: “My whole life has been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of God’s presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that lets you see your place in the big picture. And that is what I had with my first compost heap.”

Composting is possibly the best, easiest, cheapest and most eco-friendly gift you can give back to the Earth during the season of giving. So why not give your little patch of the Earth and your lifestyle, the best Christmas gift ever: pure soil.

Home-made compost is free soil and fertilizer for your garden and provides an energy boost for any fruit and veggie patch, lawn or tree. A simple 5% increase of compost quadruples your soil’s ability to store water.

There are two main types of organic compost – ‘greens’ and ‘browns’.

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‘Greens’ are high in nitrogen and include vegetable and fruit scraps, freshly cut grass and plant trimmings, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags and tea leaves and tired vase flowers.

‘Browns’ are dry materials like leaf litter, woodchips and sawdust from untreated wood, grass clippings, paper and cardboard, egg shells, human hair and animal fur.

When composting, always cover your layer of green material with a layer of brown material to cut down on flies and mask unpleasant smells. The ideal mixture is a 50:50 green to brown mix. Because greens are heavier than browns, the general rule is two to three buckets of browns for one bucket of greens.

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Keep your compost heap or pit moist, but not soaked, and regularly turn it over with a spade or pitchfork in order to aerate the good stuff.

Do not compost meat, fish, dairy products, oily foods or grease, bones, cat and dog waste, diseased plants, weeds with seeds, or anything treated with chemicals.

The compost is ready when it turns into a dark, nutrient-rich soil. Happy planting!