How to Make Compost Fast to Speed Up Your Compost Bin

Composting is an easy way for the whole family to reduce the amount of waste they send to the landfill.

Composting is simply the process that all organic matter goes through when it breaks down into a usable organic material. When you utilize this process in the most efficient way, you will have an end product that is lightweight and nutrient-dense to use as a soil amendment for garden beds and potting soils. A number of ways exist to ensure a speedier process, but they all involve increasing the microbial activity that decomposition depends on.

Things You'll Need

• Compost bin
• Brown matter
• Green matter
• Compost starter or soil
• Water
• Garden fork

Instructions

1. Set up your compost bin in a sunny location as per the instructions for the bin -- either commercial or DIY -- you've chosen. Sun helps "cook" the ingredients by providing the warm environment the microbes need to thrive. An ideal bin should have an adequate air supply from all sides, allow for drainage and have a lid to prevent pests and excess water. A simple tarp covering works for bins without lids.

2. Layer the bottom of your compost bin with a layer of twigs. Carbon-based and slow to break down, twigs help with drainage and allowing air to enter the pile from below without blocking access to the pile for pill bugs, worms, earwigs, slugs and other beneficial insects that assist in decomposition.

3. Layer 1 inch of brown matter with 1 inch of green matter, in 1-inch increments. Brown matter is slow to break down, being carbon-based, and includes dried leaves, dried non-diseased plant matter, shredded newsprint minus the shiny, color ad pages, straw and sawdust. Green matter has a higher nitrogen content, attracts the insects and worms that break everything down, but will get slimy and smelly on its own, as well as attract pests such as raccoons, skunks and other unwanted wildlife. Green matter includes grass clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps, non-diseased plant waste, manure from plant eating animals such as rabbit, chicken, cow and horse, coffee grinds and green leaves. By keeping the layers equal, you provide the right ingredients for a quicker decomposition that will be odorless, high in nutrients and inviting to the insects and microbes needed for breaking down. Shred and cut up all ingredients into the smallest pieces possible for the best results. Smaller pieces break down faster.

4. Place a layer of soil or a commercial compost starter on the top to help aid in microbial activity. The microbes will appear on their own, but giving it a head start on the number at work will make it work quicker.

5. Water your pile so that the materials are moist but not soaking wet and cover.

6. Turn ingredients from the outside inward with a garden fork to move material to the core of the pile where the heat is greatest and add water to keep moist as needed. Compost can be ready in just a few months.

Tips & Warnings

• Tumbling bins that turn and mix ingredients are an alternative to stationary bins and require no heavy lifting with garden forks.

• Recycle an old plastic trash can with a lid into a bin that can be rolled or shaken to mix ingredients in much the same manner as tumblers.

• Use a three-bin system for a continuous amount of compost ready for use. One bin collects new materials; one is in the cooking stage of decomposition; and one is finished and ready for use. As one empties, you rotate the bins, so you have compost almost always at hand.

• Never place processed food scraps, meat, dairy and human and pet feces in the compost. These products all contain harmful bacteria, will cause an odor and attract unwanted guests to your bin.

References

• Ohio State University Extension: Composting at Home
• Washington State University Extension: Backyard Composting
• North Carolina State University Extension: Composting for Home Gardens

Resources

• University of Wisconsin Extension: Can Composter
• EPA: Composting