Buzz
Composting is an excellent project as it allows you to transform food scraps and waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer for your soil. To create compost, you only need a suitable location and biodegradable waste, preferably from your kitchen or garden. With simple materials and a bit of care, you can produce high-quality fertilizer for your garden. When done correctly, composting provides essential nutrients for plants and enriches the soil, turning what would have been trash into a valuable resource.
Steps
Set Up a Composting Area in Your Yard
Choose a location for your compost pile. Place it far enough away so the smell doesn’t bother you, and rodents attracted to the pile won’t easily find their way into your home. Compost bins can be placed in the sun or shade; however, note that compost in the sun decomposes faster but requires more water. Additionally, ensure there’s enough space to turn the compost.
- It’s best to position your compost pile on the ground, 1-2 meters away from trees, and avoid placing it on walkways or in the yard for easier turning and movement.
Purchase a compost bin. If you want to start composting quickly and easily, you can buy a compost bin from home improvement stores. These bins are typically made of black plastic, come with a lid, and have no bottom. They are affordable, easy to assemble, and ready to use immediately.
- Black plastic compost bins with sturdy walls also help prevent rodents from entering, unlike open-top bins or those with only side walls.
Build your own compost bin. You can easily construct a compost bin if you need one with a specific shape or size. Most homemade compost bins have wooden frames with wooden or wire mesh sides. Depending on your needs, aim for a bin with a minimum volume of 1 cubic meter, as this size can hold enough compost without taking up too much space in your yard.
- A 1-cubic-meter compost bin will be approximately 0.9 meters tall and 1.2 meters wide.
Consider composting directly on the ground. While compost bins can contain the compost and keep rodents and other animals away, you can also compost directly on the ground. Simply choose a spot where you can pile up kitchen waste.
- Composting in a bin is tidier and prevents animals from accessing food scraps, but turning and managing the compost is faster and easier when done directly on the ground.
Join a municipal composting program if you can’t compost at home. Composting at home is convenient and practical, but you can also avoid wasting kitchen scraps by using local composting collection services. Many cities now have programs that collect kitchen waste and process it into compost.
- Besides reducing kitchen waste, you’ll save space in your garage or home by using a compost bin instead of a trash can.
- Check with your local authorities to see if they collect garden waste for composting.
- Different cities have different collection methods. Some allow you to use garden waste bins, while others provide separate bins for kitchen waste.
Collect Kitchen Waste
Determine which types of kitchen waste to use. Before collecting kitchen waste, decide whether you’ll use it for home composting or a municipal composting program. This distinction is important because municipal programs can handle a wider variety of food scraps than home composting.
- With municipal composting, you can regularly collect all types of biodegradable kitchen waste, including meat and dairy.
Find a small indoor bin for compost materials. Place a small bin near your food preparation area for easy disposal. It should be convenient to use, easy to transport to the compost bin daily, and simple to clean. You can purchase a small plastic bin (many come with cute lids) or use a simple container like a ceramic bowl with a plate as a cover.
- Position the bin in an accessible spot for everyone in the household.
Collect all vegetable and fruit scraps. The best kitchen waste for composting is vegetable and fruit scraps, as they decompose quickly and don’t attract rodents or insects like animal products. Gather all scraps, including cooked vegetable leftovers.
Use only certain animal products for home composting. While municipal compost bins can accept all types of animal-based kitchen waste, only a few should be added to home compost bins. Eggshells are a good example, as they add calcium, which helps plants grow.
Identify compostable materials. Some biodegradable items shouldn’t be composted at home due to health, hygiene, or decomposition challenges. These include:
- Meat and meat scraps
- Bones
- Fish and fish bones
- Oil or grease
- Human and pet waste (except for herbivores like rabbits and horses)
Composting Process
Line the bottom of the bin with brown materials if possible. Before starting the composting process, add dry leaves or garden debris to create a sturdy base. Ideally, this brown layer should be a few centimeters thick.
- If brown materials aren’t available, you can still begin composting. A thin layer of garden soil or finished compost can also be added to introduce the right bacteria into the compost bin.
Gather green materials. Green materials, rich in nitrogen, are essential for generating heat in the compost. Excellent heat-generating materials include young weeds (before seeding), comfrey leaves, yarrow, and grass clippings. Other suitable green materials for composting include fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea leaves (including tea bags without strings), and manure from chickens, turkeys, cows, or horses.
- Avoid compacting large amounts of green materials, as they can quickly become anaerobic, meaning there won’t be enough oxygen for beneficial bacteria to thrive and break down the compost materials.
Use plenty of brown materials. Brown materials, high in carbon, act as the "fiber" for the compost. These include fallen leaves (autumn), dead plants, sawdust, straw, wilted flowers (including dried flowers, excluding plastic/foam attachments), and hay.
Add other compostable materials to the bin. Additional items that can be composted include paper towels, paper bags, torn cotton clothing, eggshells, and hair (human, dog, cat, etc.). However, these should be used in moderation.
Layer the materials in the bin. An ideal compost bin should consist of three parts brown materials to one part green materials, or an equal mix, depending on what you have available. These materials should be in contact with each other and spread in thin layers of just a few centimeters.
Cover the compost bin or bury food scraps under garden waste. If you want to use food scraps for composting, be cautious to avoid odors and attracting animals or insects. To prevent this, cover the bin or simply layer garden waste over the kitchen scraps.
- If you don’t have garden waste or plant debris, bury the kitchen scraps under the existing top layer in the bin.
Maintaining the Compost Pile
Keep the compost moist. For faster decomposition, the materials need moisture. The easiest way to achieve this is by sprinkling water in thin layers during the composting process. Add water or wet green materials if the compost seems dry. Conversely, add dry brown materials if the compost appears too wet.
- During dry weather, add water to the compost bin each time you add materials to maintain moisture.
- The compost pile should feel like a damp sponge that’s been wrung out.
Shred compost materials to speed up the process. To help materials decompose faster, chop leaves and other garden waste into smaller pieces and crush eggshells. Larger scraps take longer to break down, so this method will accelerate composting time.
Encourage the compost pile to heat up. The compost pile needs warmth for bacteria to thrive and break down the organic materials you’ve collected. In cold weather, cover the compost bin with black garden fabric or other dark materials to help retain heat.
- The temperature of the compost pile is crucial and indicates bacterial activity during decomposition. The simplest way to monitor the internal temperature is by feeling it with your hand. If it feels hot or warm, decomposition is progressing well. If it matches the surrounding temperature, bacterial activity has slowed, and you should add more nitrogen-rich materials (green materials).
- Covering the bin also keeps it tidy.
Turn the compost. Mix the materials from the inside out and top to bottom, breaking up clumps or sticky masses. If you’re still adding materials, use this opportunity to mix them with the existing compost.
- You can use a pitchfork to turn the compost, transferring the entire pile to another spot, mixing it thoroughly, and returning it to the bin. This method improves airflow and speeds up decomposition.
- Alternatively, you can purchase a compost aerator, a tool with a handle and a toothed end that you twist into the pile to mix it.
Turn the compost weekly or biweekly. Regular turning is ideal, especially if you’re adding kitchen scraps that can produce odors if not mixed well. Turning the compost encourages the right bacteria to thrive, resulting in a pleasant-smelling and faster-decomposing compost.
Determine if the compost is ready. At some point, you may need to stop adding materials and let the compost "mature." You’ll know it’s ready when it’s no longer warm and has a dark brown color.
- Composting typically takes 2-3 months, depending on weather conditions and the materials in the pile.
- Fresh compost can be used for planting, but it may temporarily deplete soil nitrogen as decomposition continues. If the compost isn’t fully mature, leave it in the bin longer or spread it in the garden and wait a few weeks before planting.
Use the compost. If everything goes well, you’ll eventually find a layer of mature compost at the bottom of the bin. You can remove it and spread it on the soil or bury it in the garden.
- You may need to sift it through a mesh screen or use your hands or a pitchfork to remove any large, undecomposed chunks.
- The composting process is remarkably efficient. Starting with a 1-cubic-meter bin of the right materials, keeping it moist, and turning it weekly can yield large batches of compost annually.
Avoid common mistakes
Understand that compost generates heat. Some composters worry when they turn the compost and find it hot inside. While not always the case, a compost pile decomposes fastest when it produces heat. A high-quality compost pile will be warm inside, even emitting steam on a cold morning. This is a good sign.
Decide whether to add slow-decomposing materials. Some garden waste can be composted but takes longer to break down, such as branches, twigs, and hedge clippings. You may need to compost these materials separately as they take more time to decompose, especially in colder climates with shorter composting seasons.
- Shred heavy materials if possible to help them decompose faster.
Be cautious when using weeds for compost. You can add weeds to the compost bin, but there's a risk of spreading weed seeds throughout the garden. If you're sure the weeds haven't seeded, they can be composted. However, if the weeds have seeds, it's best to dispose of them in garden waste bins instead of the compost bin.
Do not add animal waste to the compost bin. While technically dog waste can be composted, it requires special conditions in city-approved compost bins, often found in local parks. Do not use this type of compost in gardens or near vegetable or fruit plants. Check with local authorities for more information. Request that local governments provide these bins in parks and dog-walking areas.
- Never add waste from carnivorous animals to the compost bin. While herbivore waste is suitable for composting, waste from pigs, dogs, cats, or other carnivorous/omnivorous animals can contaminate the compost and plants with foodborne illnesses.
Do not place compostable containers in the compost bin. Many food containers labeled as compostable are designed for industrial processing and do not break down effectively in home compost bins due to insufficient heat.
Tips
- You can use compost to make compost tea, a fertilizer created by pouring water over compost, letting it steep for 1-2 weeks, filtering the liquid, and using it to water plants.
- To speed up composting, consider adding worms to the bin. Specialized worms are available online. If your compost bin is bottomless, worms may naturally find their way in.
- Consider sharing a compost bin if you live in an apartment building.
What You'll Need
- A composting location
- A compost bin
- Kitchen scraps, garden waste, and other compostable materials
- A pitchfork or other tool for turning the compost
