'The Complete Composting Guide for Beginners: Grow Your Own From Home' by Linda Marsden is a comprehensive guide to composting; what it is, why to do it, how to do it, various techniques, its benefits for the garden and the larger environment and most importantly, how to do it at home.
If you're looking for a simple guide that will get you started with creating your own compost and enable you to decide the best method to choose, this is the book for you.
Inside you'll learn:
- What Composting Is - Various Composting Methods and Techniques - Ethical and Environmental Concerns Over Organic Waste - What Can Be Composted - Other Composting Ingredients - A Handy List of Composting and Non-Compostable Ingredients - How To Make Your Own Compost - Health Hazards and Risks of Composting
If you want to get started in the world of composting in no time at all, then this is for you.
This book contains some basic elements about composting; I wouldn't call it a "complete guide". If you don't know much about composting it can be a starting point.
The author spends more time extolling the virtues of compost in relieving pressure on the dastardly land fills and the horrors of global warming, than actually telling you how to compost effectively. She also goes into commercial, large scale composting, that has absolutely no bearing on beginners composting at home. In one section, she lists in bright red the things you shouldn't compost, such as meat and dairy. Later on, she contradicts herself and suggests adding it to sealed compost bins, without an explanation for why. While her writing is acceptable, the book would benefit greatly from some proofreading and editing. I would not recommend this book to a beginner looking to start composting.