Shredded paper

As there have been a few comments on shredded paper and shredders lately, I thought you might be interested in these photos. This shredder is the one I used for the last 15 years in my business. It's still going strong.

We use shredded computer paper for hen's nests. You can really build a substantial and comfortable nest for a chook with shredded paper. When it's dirty, we put the nests in the compost heap. I've mulched plants with shredded paper but you have to sprinkle on some blood and bone, or some form or nitrogen fertiliser, to stop the nitrogen lock down in the soil as the paper breaks down.

Shredded paper is a really good carbon additive to your compost. When you add it, also add some wet green material like vegetable peels, green leaves or clippings, and wet the paper to help it break down.

We also use a lot of newspaper on the garden and in the worm farm. Worms will eat through newspaper fairly quickly. I just tear the newspaper into strips for the worms but when we have a lot of newspaper, we shred it and add it to the stockpile you see above. Hanno spends about an hour or so shredding paper every month. He places it into the bags in the garden shed so it's ready for use when needed.

You can use ordinary newspaper, but not the glossy, coloured segments, nor magazines. All children's paints, crayons and pencil are safe so kid's drawings are usually fine to use on your garden.