Can I compost Christmas nuts ?

Those nice folk at Hotbin composting have provided this interesting peice of festive composting information.  Hotbin composting make high quality thermally insulated compost bins which can be used to compost all types of food waste - including nuts.

So remember you don’t exactly need a sledgehammer to compost a nut just a HOTBIN and some other easy to digest waste!

Nuts and fruit stones, cherries stones, kernels, peach, plum stones, and nuts are all compostable. Just remember nut and stones are designed by nature to resist bacterial breakdown – so it takes time. Hot composting using insulated units like the HOTBIN is quicker, and even if the stone is not fully broken down, the heat will kill the seed and prevent germination.

As some of you will know walnut trees are known to produce a chemical called Juglone that is toxic to many plants preventing their growth. Some composting sites suggest Juglone kills composting bacteria; but our research suggests this is incorrect – Juglone is a plant growth inhibitor (‘herbicide’) not a bacteria killer (‘fungicide’).

So all in all you dont need to worry about composting nuts and their shells, after Christmas you may well have a big pile of shells like this, just add them to your compost bin along with your grass clippings, newspapers, egg shells, tea bags and coffee grinds and they will rot down nicely adding some valuable carbon to your compost and helping to create a wonderful soil improver for your garden.