Review – How to Make and Use Compost; the Ultimate Guide, Nicky Scott, Green Books 2009

Aiding carbon sequestration, providing a valuable growing medium and reducing landfill all in one, compost making is the original Black Art and local councils are very keen that more of us should be doing it. But what makes the difference between two hundred litres of dark crumbly goodness and a bin full of smelly old muck? Nicky Scott breaks it down for us.

I’m terrible at making compost - there, I’ve said it. It’s not for want of trying, though. Within my first few years of composting I’d read five books on the subject, and each one left me more confused than the last. Would this book be my salvation?

After a fairly technical and slightly daunting introduction the book settles down into the familiar instructions of how to make good compost. To my surprise, however, the how-to chapter is very short at just six pages which, to be frank, is probably all the space that the guts of this very simple process needs. Other authors have taken half a book to cover the same ground (perhaps that’s why it can seem so confusing) but Scott pushes on immediately to discuss types of bins, making leaf mould and composting with worms. There is also a detailed section on how to use your finished compost (an option curiously overlooked in some books), including simple recipes for making up potting mix, cutting mix and seedling compost.

Throughout, Scott takes a refreshing pros-and-cons approach which points out the drawbacks of each option as well as the benefits, and although commercial options are discussed thoroughly the build-it-yourself option is never overlooked. In keeping with Green Books’ ethical stance there are also sections on large-scale composting, community composting schemes and composting in schools. There is also an A to Z which, although perhaps not terribly useful given that the book is indexed, is worth looking through for a few gems that weren’t included elsewhere in the text (such as how to compost old cooking oil, and the fact that custard is one of the most difficult materials to compost).

Unlike the other composting titles I have read, Scott’s unusually thoughtful treatment of this well-trodden subject has not made me feel enthused and ashamed that I am not composting every scrap of material from my home and garden. Instead I feel enlightened and ready to replace my monster bin with something more suitable, to rethink my worm bins, and to take a more realistic attitude to how I make compost. There’s a difference.

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