Home-made compost is a great soil conditioner and plant food. Good compost can take about six months to produce if you turn it regularly, and up to two years in some instances. Mature compost will be dark brown, with a crumbly soil-like texture and a smell resembling damp woodland.

Avoid adding meat, bones, fat and anything that has been cooked to your compost bin, as these will attract rats and other vermin. Citrus fruit remains are slow to rot and very acidic, which reduces worm activity, so it pays to avoid adding these too.

Most compost bins contain too much nitrogen, especially if the main source is from grass cuttings and kitchen waste – often resulting in an evil-smelling sludge - while an excess of carbon in your heap will significantly slow down the composting process.

Nitrogen typically comes from lush green material and carbon from woody stems. For every barrow load of cut grass, you should mix in the same volume of straw, sawdust, cardboard or shredded woody material such as hedge trimmings.

With the exception of gloss coated or colour-printed paper, most packaging can be composted. It should be scrunched up and mixed in equally to allow plenty of air to circulate rather than being layered in like lasagne.

The trick to great compost is getting the right balance right between greens and browns, an equal amount of each is perfect, and turning the mixture regularly to keep air flowing

Wet, slimy and strong-smelling compost results from too little air, too little ‘brown’ content and too much water. Cover the heap to protect against rain and add more brown waste, such as chopped woody material, shredded woodchip, straw or paper.

Dry and fibrous compost with little rotting is usually caused by too little moisture and too much brown material. Add more green waste and turn to mix thoroughly.

Well managed compost bins don’t produce swarms of flies, but covering kitchen waste with garden waste and ensuring that moisture levels are not too high, causing insufficient air in the heap with help reduce the attraction for flies.