Composting tips for garden and greenhouse fans

The Daily Mail has published a list of tips for garden and greenhouse enthusiasts who wish to make their own organic compost.

It suggested that everything added to the pile be shredded and cut down to the smallest size possible as this will help matter rot faster.

A mixture of wet and dry material should also help speed things along, with damp grass or soggy food waste mixed with try twigs and dead leaves.

"You can dry wet compost with torn-up fibre egg cartons or cardboard. Dry mixes can be watered and, if youre a bloke in a reliably private garden, peed upon," the newspaper advised.

There should also be a good combination of brown, high carbon materials with green, nitrogen-rich substances to ensure the compost contains the right balance of nutrients.

Garden and greenhouse fans should regularly turn their compost over to help it rot more quickly, while it is important to stay vigilant and not include any cooked foods as this will bring vermin.

Meanwhile, the newspaper also published a separate list of tips for winter gardening, which includes advice on protecting food crops and seeds from hungry mice.