Gardeners urged to keep hold of apple cores for vital reason

The next time you’re munching down on a delicious apple, don’t throw the core away – experts reveal it can have a vital use in your garden instead. Most people don’t enjoy eating the hard crunchy core of an apple, especially as it contains a stringy centre and bitter seeds. However, there’s no need to throw it away. According to Waste Managed, the UKtosses 9.5 million tonnes of food per year – much of it unnecessarily.

Instead, you can put your apple cores to better use to help your plants grow. But before you toss them straight on your garden bed, garden experts from Lomi recommend using them in your compost pile.

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They write: “Unless you’re looking to befriend a family of local raccoons, you’ll need to use some type of homemade compost bin to conceal food scraps while you wait for natural microbes to break down these items.”

Compost is a nutrient-rich, organic material produced from the decomposition of organic matter like kitchen waste. Apple cores contain many key nutrients that can boost your compost.

In particular, they are high in nitrogen, calcium and potassium. All of these minerals are crucial for plant growth, plant processes and overall plant health.

Plus, they are also considered “green waste”, which means they decompose relatively quickly compared to “brown waste” materials like dried leaves.

So, how do you go about creating your own compost pile? Lomi explains that you can throw your fruit and vegetable scraps into a weather and critter-proof bin.

Then, every two to three weeks, break up the compost by adding a splash of water and turning it with a shovel. Breaking up the compost is important as it introduces oxygen into the compost pile.

This in turn is vital for the aerobic bacteria that degrade organic matter. The oxygen allows them to respire and generate heat, which leads to the decomposition of organic matter.

Lomi adds that after two to 12 months, your compost bin should contain dark, crumbly soil that is rich in micro-organisms. This is ready to be fed to your plants.

Other popular food scraps that you can add to your compost pile include banana skins. These are particularly rich in potassium, which is an essential nutrient for plants.

Equally, coffee grounds can be an excellent addition to your compost, as they are rich in nitrogen, which encourages plants to produce healthy foliage.