composting - it's not a gas!

One of the most polluting aspects of our lives is the household waste we produce.

Kitchen waste is especially damaging - landfill sites are noxious sores on the landscape and the methane gas they produce is the worst of the greenhouse gasses.

Organic gardeners can feel especially virtuous then because they see their kitchen waste as a potential source of plant food and compost it.

We now have a compost tumbler at the allotment into which goes our kitchen waste. We also toss in crumpled waste paper and give the thing a spin. Hey presto! (or as hey presto! as several months can be) the waste emerges as crumbly plant food to enrich the garden. Composting kitchen waste breaks down waste without harmful methane being released.

The poor weather of the past two weeks has stopped us collecting compost in our sealable containers and we have been throwing kitchen waste into the bin. The containers were full to the top and we couldn't get to the allotment to empty them! So, we joined the millions whose waste creates putrefying eyesores on the landscape by dustbinning our kitchen waste ... but only for a few days.

Oh, the relief today when I could pour in the containers of waste and more paper and card and give our tumbler a whizz, (although my relief was nothing compared with the relief Linda's bees must have felt recently after two weeks stuck in the hive - see her blog).

Our containers now stand empty and ready for more.