Compost – soil bank for the future

The word compost conjures

up images of an untidy heap

of assorted kitchen and vegetable

remains at the far end

of the garden. A more scientific

definition of compost

would be the product of natural

degradation of botanical and

putrescible waste by the action of

bacteria, fungi and other organisms

in the presence of an adequate

air supply. The biological

decomposition processes break

down complex organic substances

into carbon dioxide,

water and a residue: compost.