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Several years ago, whilst working for Warrington Collegiate Institute and later Mysercough College, as a gardening tutor, I was seconded to the Walton Lea Project, a project that provided supported employment training for adults with learning disabilities. Being passionate about composting I wanted to make compost from the waste material collected from the vegetable area at Walton Lea. This proved a little difficult as I was not collecting enough material to make decent aerobic compost. Nearby was Warrington Crematorium…….a useful resource awaited me as at that time, the waste flowers were sent to landfill !

Waste flowers from the crematorium put to good use-making compost

The waste flowers had to be sorted from rubbish…….note cardboard boxes, used in the compost making…….

Compost material is chopped up

More enthusiastic staff members sorting and chopping the materials….

Willing staff sorting, chopping and preparing the material

Material is checked to remove non compostable material and other waste…..

sorting out prior to making heap

Compost box 1 would be moved to the next compost bin 2 to its left………

Moving and thereby aerating the compost material

The next week the process would begin again……

Compost material moved along to next box on a weekly basis

The process at work……

Compost in the making!

Fungi, moulds and bacteria feasting upon the waste flowers, cardboard boxes and vegetables…..

Compost in the making, fungi, moulds and bacteria feasting on the material

Box 3…….a smaller quantity that week……

Composting material – the volume is reduced as the microbes reduce it…

Week 4…….

After 4 weeks this batch is ready for the next stage

The maturation stage……letting the freshly cooked compost mature

The maturation or maturing stage….from waste flowers to useful compost

I kept a separate heap for tree leaves….. their decaying process requires a different approach to produce useful leaf mould…

A leaf mould heap

I spent many happy years working with the staff and students at Walton Lea,many of whom became compost enthusiasts!!!! Mission accomplished!

If you would like advice about composting or need help please contact me 01925 452819/mob 07873 586685 or e mail……    george.pilkington@ntlworld.com