Learn How to Compost at home. It is easier than you think. Composting at home can be done in a few simple steps.
Do you compost? Are you overwhelmed by the thought of it? We have been composting for years and we love it.
We get such rich nutrient soil with little to no work. With Spring gardening right around the corner, find out how to compost at home now. It is easier than you might think. Learn How to Start a Garden (5 things you need to know)
What is Compost?
It is basically a nutrient rich soil from organic waste. Basically speaking, it uses the food scraps from your kitchen as well as the green waste from your yard to create a soil that is great for your garden. It’s a decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms.
If you know the right things to put in your compost, you will not have to work hard to have a nice rich garden soil. You will have the best soil and all with using what you have. The organic matter added to soil will greatly help the health of your soil.
Supplies
- Browns. Some brown materials include dry leaves, eggshells, newspaper, twigs, untreated wood chips, paper plates, cardboard, tea bags without staples, plant stalks, wood shavings, hay, straw and sawdust.
- Greens. Green materials include fruit and vegetable kitchen scraps, coffee grounds.
Step 1. Gather your supplies for the home composting process. You need to know what to collect. What you can add to your compost is broken up into two basic categories – browns and greens. These provide carbon to your compost and should make up about 60% of your pile. Break into smaller pieces or chop before adding to the pile especially corn cobs.
Step 2. Pick a place in your yard where you want your compost heap to go. We have a couple of bins and compost tumblers that we bought. Simply add your browns and greens a little at a time. Once you have a new layer on top, you can water it a bit to help the bacteria grow (and thus breakdown your waste). It is also a good idea to mix up you pile every so often during the decomposition process. High temperatures will help to reduce weed seeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are not composting, you are filling up your trash cans (and our landfills) with something that you can reuse yourself. When we started composting, we noticed that there were many weeks when we only had to take one trash can to the curb.
Having almost an acre, we have a lot of grass clippings in the summertime. What better way to reduce out footprint than to add those grass clippings to our compost pile and not our trash can. It can be used as a mulch on lawns.
Some greens include grass clippings and yard waste, tea and coffee grounds (and filters) and fruit and vegetable scraps and other organic material (peels, but no seeds).
These provide nitrogen rich ingredients to your pile and should make up about 40% of your compost toward the center of the pile. Backyard composting is very simple! You will have carbon rich soil.
I keep my fruit and vegetable scraps in a pretty ceramic container. It is one of my kiddos’ daily chores to take the kitchen wastes out to the compost bin.
Simply add your browns and greens a little at a time. Once you have a new layer on top, you can water it a bit to help the bacteria grow (and thus breakdown your waste). It is also a good idea to mix up you pile every so often.
Depending on the size of your composting bin you can use a garden fork or a handy compost aerator (this is an awesome tool). Turning the pile is easier with these tools. You will love having the finished compost.
It is also important to know what you can’t compost. This includes weeds (with seed), diseased plants, dog or cat feces, meat scraps, bones, cheese or other dairy products. Keep this in mind so these items do not end up in your pile.
If the kids help, they may need a reminder.
Composting can save you money in a variety of ways. For one, you will be reducing the amount of waste you actually “throw away”, which means fewer trash bags and less big trash cans at the curb.
You will also save money because you will be creating your own nutrient rich soil without having to buy fertilizer. It is not only cheaper for you, but it is much better than any soil you could buy from your local home improvement store.
Finally, you will be saving money if you use your compost in a vegetable garden because you will be able to reap a high yield of delicious, healthy vegetables, thus reducing your cost at the grocery store. Composting provides nutrients to soil.
It may need more circulation, or it has too much moisture.
A compost pile that is properly maintained and cared for should not attract pests and rodents.
You will need to maintain 2-3 parts browns to 1 part greens.
Find More Yard and Garden Tips
- 5 Ways to Save Money in the Garden
- Gardening for Beginners
- Save on Landscaping- How we saved thousands and you can too!
- How to save on Flowers for your garden
Now that you know that basics of how to compost, let us know what you think? Leave a comment and share your feedback.
Love the plank idea!