Oxfordshire Master Composter Emma Cooper has been chatting about compose with Alys Fowler and Jane Perrone on the latest episode of the Guardian gardening podcast.
From the Sow, Grow, Repeat website, you can listen to the show online, download an mp3 or subscribe via iTunes.
Find out what unusual items Alys likes to add to her heap, Emma's top tip for healthy compost, and all about the microbes helping it to rot down.
Getting stuck in to the gardening this month? If you're producing more garden waste than you can compost, then take advantage of the local council's offer this month, and have it collected with your brown bin.
If you're in South Oxfordshire, then you can put out one extra bin's worth of garden waste on your normal collection day between 11 and 15 May 2015. In the Vale of the White Horse, the extra large collection is during the week 18 and 22 May.
In either case, extra waste should be put out in a cardboard box or a clear bag - Biffa can't collect waste in industrial sacks, and they need to be able to tell that the contents is garden waste.
If you're not already a brown bin customer, there will be a special promotional period in June and July when you can save 10% on the price of this annual service. And existing customers can sign up for an extra bin during the promotion period and receive a 10% discount on their new bin for a year.
