How to Compost Yard Waste & Organics
Before the advent of chemical fertilizers, any farmer or gardener boosted their produce with compost made from their own food wastes. With our landfills filling with trash–including lots of compost-able plant and food waste–and runoff fertilizer chemicals getting into the environment, a lot of people are revisiting the traditional natural method of making great food for your plants. Compost is a living thing, full of nutrients and helpful bacteria and insects. Though a composting system can take some time to set up,once it's running it can produce lots of natural fertilizer with little effort, and is a great way to cut down your footprint and save money. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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What To Compost
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There are two main types of things you can compost: “browns” and “greens.” Browns are older plant material, like dried leaves, straw, old wood, newspapers and brown paper bags. Greens are fresher plant material, like kitchen scraps, newly fallen leaves and fresh grass cuttings. You want to have an equal amount of each, as they both provide benefits for the bacteria and creatures who will be doing the composting for you. Composting takes a little while, and an even mixture of greens and browns can help speed things up. Greens usually have water and nitrogen, while browns can provide aeration. Composting bacteria are aerobic, which means they need oxygen from fresh air, and they also need a certain amount of moisture to survive. If the aerobic bacteria do not have those things, they will die and anaerobic bacteria will flourish. Anaerobic bacteria will compost your waste, but slowly and it will smell like rotten garbage.
Some things are not good for composting. Bones, meat and cheese will attract scavengers and may take a lot longer to break down, while things like pressure-treated wood and animal waste may contain toxins you don't want ending up in your soil.
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There are a lot of different systems for composting, so you should pick one that fits your needs:
Pile: The simplest system, a pile is just what it sounds like. You take your material and make it into a pile on any patch of ground. You will have to turn and mix your compost, and this system can make that a little tougher, plus it is usually messy.
Tumblers: An efficient and simple method of composting is to use a tumbler. Basically a big cylinder on an axis, a tumblers can be expensive to buy, but it is possible to make your own out of an old barrel and some wood. With a tumbler, you add the material to the large hollow cylinder and turn it every couple of days to make sure it is getting mixed evenly.
Bins: One of the most popular methods of composting is with a bin. Any kind of structure can be used as a bin and moany different kinds of bins are available from gardening suppliers. With a bin, you isolate your compost from the rest of your yard and they usually have an easy way to add new material to the top and remove finished compost from the bottom.
Worm Bins: Like a bin, but more mobile, a worm composting bin can be used inside your house. If you buy a worm bin, they often come with specialized worms that break down compost quickly, all you have to do is make sure they have plenty to chew on.
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Once you know what kind of system you want to use, you have to install it. Most composting systems are for outdoor use, so pick a corner of your yard near your garden plot. If you're using a worm bin, you can store it inside–under the kitchen sink is a handy spot–or keep it outside, but remember to bring them in during the winter.
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One of the easiest ways to start composting is to have a container in your kitchen where you put appropriate kitchen scraps. Once that container is full, you can transfer it to your compost system and create a cycle. When mixing in a brown, like hay, try to mix in an equal (in weight) amount of a green to keep your compost balanced. Avoid putting in any diseased looking plants and weeds, as their seeds can sprout once you put the finished compost on your garden.
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If you have a pile or a tumbler, mix it every couple of days to provide aeration. Most bins have holes for ventilation, and a worm bin should have some kind of opening to let air in but keep the crawlies from getting out.
It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months to produce finished compost, but it should look and smell like good, dark soil, or humus (not the chickpea dip). You should remove finished compost from your system once it's done, so you have space to add more wastes. For best effect, place it directly around your seeds and starters to help them reach their full potential.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not put anything hazardous into the compost, like pressure treated wood (it will have a red or green look to it), chemicals or trash.
