Composting can seem a bit overwhelming if you’re a newbie, but it’s actually really, really simple. You can use a composter that is super simple and cheap, or you can get a fancy one. Either way, “cooking your garbage” {Thanks Uncle Buck}, is like FREE nutrient rich goodness for your garden.
All it really requires is for you to toss your scraps into the bin and poke it around every once in awhile. I know that sounds over-simplified, but seriously, nature pretty much does the job for you.
You can compost kitchen scraps, yard scraps, used napkins, coffee filters, etc. Between recycling and composting, you will literally be shocked at how little garbage you generate. Start with kitchen scraps–they are the easiest.
You’ll need a bowl, container, or kitchen compost bin to toss your scraps in. If you are committed to taking the scraps out to the composter each day, a bowl/bucket should be fine. If you aren’t, I recommend a kitchen composter.
It will help keep your kitchen from smelling like garbage. Just toss in compostable scraps {for a full list of everything that is compostable in the kitchen, go HERE} and then dump it into the outdoor compost pile when it gets full.
For your outdoor compost pile, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. You want to have a nice mix of food waste and garden waste. Keep the pile moist, but not soggy. You want the microorganisms that are naturally present to do their job and break down the food/garden scraps into compost.
Providing air is one way to expedite the process. Every once in awhile {like every two weeks, or so}, turn your compost with a pitch fork or shovel. It adds air to the mix, and it helps to mix in decay with non-decay. If you want to expedite the process, you can add bone meal or dried blood to the mix–but that is not necessary.
The cooking time on compost varies a ton, in my experience. I think it has to do with how hot the mixture gets, what is in the layers, etc. I’ve had batched “cook” relatively quickly, while others seem to take forever.
Either way, you know compost is done with it has a very earthy smell {the rotting garbage smell goes away a bit} and is almost black. It will crumble in your hands, like a mixture of earth and soil. The compost will be “hot” initially–meaning very high in nitrogen, so you won’t want to spread it out on your garden and immediately plant.
It’s best to spread it out in the fall or wait until very early spring and give it a month or two before planting. If you go the fall route, just lay it over the top of your garden beds and wait until spring to mix it in with the soil.
In the spring, you can mix it directly in with the soil. {It’s best for your garden soil not to toil it in the fall, it promotes healthy microorganisms–that’s why you don’t mix it in in the fall.}
You can buy a composter if you are trying to keep things simple. There are literally tons of styles to choose from. If you are looking for a more budget friendly options, they are super easy to make.
You can make a compost tumbler, like my friend Heather did last year, which is awesome, because you can “turn” the compost with minimal effort. At my last house, I made our composter out of pallets the HH brought home.
It worked great, and cost me next to nothing. Whichever option you choose, you’ll just want to make sure that you have some place to “cook” your compost {which, by the way, is just a fancy way to say get your garbage to break down using oxygen, water, and naturally occurring heat from the breakdown process}.
You seriously CANNOT screw compost up. It happens whether you try for it or not–naturally occurring waste breaks down…you might as well take advantage of the awesomeness that happens as a result in your garden.
Happy composting,
Mavis
Libby says
Hi Mavis,
This is my second year composting. I use a plastic pitcher with a lid to collect kitchen scraps and add them to a tumbler which I got for free from my father who tried and failed at using it. Last year it was way too wet, It would leak fluid everyday, i don’t really have dry garden scraps to add to it so I started adding trader joes paper grocery bags, which we have a lot of each week. Do you think that will work to dry it out? Last year I added it to the soil in my raised beds before I added a new layer of soil. Any other ideas of what I could use to dry it out?
Catherine Foster says
I collect bags of shredded paper from work and periodically throw handfuls in. Also, leaves are good.
jestjack says
Big fan of composting ….but prefer “a tumbling composter”. Much neater and breaks down the organics much faster. During the Summer it really acts quickly with very little odor. And this stuff is like “rocket fuel” for the vegetable garden. And couldn’t agree more about the reduction in trash…between the recycling efforts and composting we basically have no trash…
Cecily says
Wonder what the HOA would say about a pallet compost bin! 😉
Sue V says
How do you deal with rats? My compost pile is too attractive to them.
grant says
Rats? Cat? Or, perhaps it isn’t so bad that they are rummaging around the compost pile rooting and scratching like chickens…or not. Just keep em out of the lettuce bed!
WendyinCA says
Well, Mavis, I think I HAVE screwed up making compost. Seriously! I dig a hole in the stuff, throw in my kitchen stuff, cover it up and water it. I haven’t turned it in a long time. Should I have several piles going at once? I don’t know at what point I should stop adding stuff to it and just let it cook. ?
Mavis Butterfield says
Eventually you do have to stop adding at let it cook. There is no magic time for that though. Serious composters would tell you to have a pile you add to and a pile that you are cooking. You probably didn’t screw it up, though. Sometimes it just takes FOREVER to break down. Other times, you have compost in no time flat. You definitely have to turn it over regularly to expedite the process, though.
Karen says
“…you will literally be shocked at how little garbage you generate.”
Lol! What a hilarious mental image. But seriously, composting is easy!
Bill says
The trick to good rich compost is fresh green waste, grass weeds leaf trimmings etc . These products mixed with your kitchen waste including all foods paper containers,( no plastic or foil)
will generate heat naturally.
To kill seeds and pathogens compost needs to rich 155 degrees and be held there for fifteen days. The compost needs to be just wet enough to barely hold together when balling it like a snow ball. Compost also needs plenty of air so it needs turning at least once a week. No air means very slow decomposition no water means no heat, its hard to mess up, My compost is close to a thirty day turn around . I made a pile of yard and and kitchen waste one side I add too the other side I use for plants I needed something simple so it worked for me. nice an neat and easy to manage. worms love it.