8 tips for composting

This basic overview provides composting tips, and some creative solutions for common issues.

Composting benefits you by producing healthy, enriched soil that can be used in gardens to encourage strong roots and optimal growth for vegetables, herbs, and flowers. By composting organic materials at your home, or at a local compost site, it also benefits the earth by:

• reducing waste and trash, which reduces methane in our environment
• conserving water — healthy soil retains water and decreases run-off
• producing micro-organisms that help protect plants against pests and disease

1. Compost This!

• Yard and grass trimmings
• Food waste (no meats, animal products, fats or grease)
• Coffee grounds and tea leaves (or tea bags, if compostable)

2. Freeze It — Nip Bugs In the Bud

I don’t know where those little gnats come from, but it’s inevitable that they will show up within 24 hours when you store compost in the house (even if it’s covered), before taking it out to the bin. Use a covered container to store the compost, fill it up with your scraps, and stick it back in the freezer. When it fills up, take it out to the compost bin.

3. Build a Bin

You can buy a compost bin, but if you really want to be an eco-star, you can make one out of wood pallets. Make magazine has a DIY pallet-based compost bin that is beautiful.

Another way to compost is to dig a 2-3 foot circle in the middle of your garden. Line the pit with chicken wire, and use wooden stakes or scrap wood to hold the chicken wire in place by pounding them into the dirt at an angle. Put a cover over the top and your ready to start filling. The compost will benefit the plants that surround it, and you can use the dirt in the garden when it’s ready.

chicken wire, stakes, leaves, compost

4. Balance the Ecosystem

A well-balanced compost consists of a 1:1 to 1:2 ratio (1-organic scraps:2-brown materials) layered with:

• fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds, tea leaves, and other organic matter
• grass clippings or yard trimmings to add nitrogen to the compost

You can also use:

• ashes, but not too many
• leftover dirt from yard projects

Worms, insects and microbes help compost break down. If your compost gets too dry, add some water (preferably from a rain barrel), but don’t let it get too wet.

5. “Cook” It and Let It Breathe

Use a garden tool (I use a small spade) to turn the dirt and work the new compost in so that the older compost oxygenates, and your new compost material works into the dirt. This also prevents your compost from rotting and stinking.

Optimum temperature is 70º to 160º F. Lower temperatures will slow the decomposition process.

6. Put a Lid On It

Covering your compost helps raise the temperature, and keeps the critters out. If rodents, raccoons, or other varmint start making appearances, it’s time to look into further security measures.

7. How Long Will It Take?

It can take several weeks to several months for your compost to be ready, dependent on many factors, including bin size, heat and what’s in the compost. You can compost in the winter if you buy a winter composter for indoor use. It is imperative to properly manage the compost if you keep it indoors, so that you don’t attract rodents or pests, and so that it doesn’t stink.

8. Get Facts From the EPA

“The amount of food waste generated in the US is huge. It is the third largest waste stream after paper and yard waste. In 2008, about 12.7 percent of the total municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in America was food scraps. Less than three percent of that 32 million tons was recovered and recycled. The rest – 31 million tons – was thrown away into landfills or incinerators. Landfills are the second largest human-related source of methane in the United States, accounting for greater than 20 percent of all methane emissions.”

- from the official EPA website

Tags: bin, compost, healthy soil, how-to, microbes, nitrogen, oxygenate