How to Activate a Compost Pile
Creating a backyard compost pile is a simple way to create a rich soil amendment out of your yard waste. Composting requires the proper levels of nitrogen and carbon, supplied by the yard waste, in order to work. It also requires that the proper microbes are present in the waste to break down the waste into usable compost. These microbes usually enter the pile from the ground, but if your pile is not heating up and breaking down, it may need help getting activated. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Yard waste
- Compost starter
- Finished compost
- Fertilizer
- Shovel
- Pitchfork
Instructions
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Make the first layer for your compost pile. Use dead leaves, dry grass clippings and other plant waste for this layer, adding to it until it is approximately 8 inches high.
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Place a nitrogen source on top of the carbon-rich first layer. Apply 3 inches of fresh grass clippings, or sprinkle 1/2 cup of nitrogen fertilizer over the compost pile.
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3
Repeat the layers of carbon yard waste and nitrogen until the pile is about 5 feet high and spreads over a 5-by-5 foot area. If using a bin, repeat until the bin is full.
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4
Sprinkle compost starter, which can be found in most lawn and garden stores, onto the pile to activate the composting process. Follow the label instructions to determine the amount to use. Alternately, apply two to three shovels full of finished compost to the pile to introduce the microbes.
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Water the pile if it is dry and not moist. Turn the pile with a pitchfork to combine the water and all the other layers evenly throughout the pile, and to aerate it.
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Turn the compost pile with the pitchfork one to two times a month. The center heats up, then begins to cool as the material near the middle is composted. Turning reactivates the microbes by bringing uncomposted materials to the center of the pile where they thrive.
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Tips & Warnings
Compost vegetable and fruit scraps from the kitchen. Coffee grounds and tea bags are also compostable.
Avoid composting weeds seeds and diseased plants. The seeds and diseases may survive the heat of the compost pile, which means they will spread when you use the compost.
