Composting for beginners

Composting is a good way to dispose of organic waste in an environmentally friendly way, give love to your plants, and best of all, its free.

What is compost?

In its simplest form, compost is just a pile of plant waste in a heap that will be broken down by fungus over time. It will eventually become a nutrient rich soil like substance that is really good for plants. Exactly how long depends on your pile size, size of plant bits, also aeration practices. The process can be sped up by aeration and shredding (turning the pile to add air, and breaking the bits into small pieces). The ideal size is 3ft x 3ft x 3ft (this allows for heat to build in the pile). I’ve made compost using smaller piles and it works fine although it might take longer.

The important thing about compost is that it needs a mix of carbon and nitrogen (brown and green), in varying ratios, but mostly you’ll need more carbon than nitrogen. Most sources recommend a ratio of 3:1 (3/4 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen). If your pile becomes a sloppy mess, you probably need to add more brown waste. You can add a handful of soil from your garden, this will add bacteria, and it will get the ball rolling. You’ll also want to keep the pile damp (but not wet), so give it a soak when it’s dry.

What to put in compost

Brown waste includes; non glossy paper and cardboard. dead leaves, sawdust, straw, twigs.

Green waste includes; grass clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps, plant waste and coffee grounds. You can put your kitchen veggie and fruit scraps in here and reduce your waste.

How to compost

Make sure your pile of goodness has the right balance of green waste to brown waste and that it’s evenly mixed (you can do this by adding your materials in 2” layers). It’ll need to be kept damp, but not too wet. Since we get a lot of rain here in the winter, I throw a few flattened cardboard boxes on top. Turn your pile as often as you are able. The more turning, the quicker it will decompose (probably a few months), and the smaller the pieces, the quicker. If you want you can just use a lawnmower to shred it.

What to avoid

Don’t-put dairy, fat, meat and bones or animal waste in your compost pile unless you want to attract rodents and flies. Also avoid animal and human waste.

Do I need special equipment?

No equipment needed., If you want, you can simply make a little pile of your ingredients. If you want to create a barrier you can do this with palettes or cement blocks or just wire (like chicken wire). Here’s my pile. I also have a tumbler.

Will it smell?

Although composting done the right way (no meat, dairy, animal or human waste or fat) won’t smell, it’s a good idea to put it away from the house. If your compost smells, there is probably an imbalance in the compost materials, or too much rain water. A healthy working compost pile should have a mild, earthy scent similar to soil.

How long will composting take?

How long depends on a few different things. If you don’t want to turn it, it might take a year or more. The smaller the pieces, the quicker it decomposes too. I tend not to shred mine and it breaks downs fine, although I usually transfer it to a tumbler after it has sat in my compost pile a couple of months. My pile never gets hot inside but it still breaks down. This compost pile shown is roughly 2’ x 1.5 x 1.5. I usually have 2-3 batches a year of about 20 gallons each time.