How to Make Compost

How to make compost? Actually, it is an easy task, because you’re taking part in a natural process. Composting is nature's way of recycling organic materials. Backyard composting reduces the amount of waste you create in your yard and kitchen by converting it into a soil amendment that you can use to keep your lawn and garden healthy. Items that readily decompose – leaves, grass, and vegetable scraps – are broken down by bacteria and other organisms to provide nutrients and structure to the soil. It’s easy to make compost at home!

First, you will need a compost bin, a container or structure in which to build your compost pile. Compost bins can be homemade from chicken wire, wood, bricks, or plastic. You can also buy compost bins, often at low costs through municipal recycling programs. Be sure the bin that you make or buy has ventilation holes in the sides, so your pile gets the air it needs to decompose.

To start your pile, put alternate layers of browns (carbon-rich materials) and greens (nitrogen-rich materials) into your compost bin. Brown materials can be dead leaves, straw, sawdust, and wood chips. Green materials include grass clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps and clippings from your garden.

Maintaining a fifty-fifty ratio of browns to greens is ideal. If your compost pile is mostly browns, decomposition will be slow. A bin of oak leaves, for example, can take as much as three years to decompose completely. If your pile is mostly greens, anaerobic decomposition is likely to take place, and a strong, unpleasant smell will result. Bins filled entirely with fresh grass clipping usually stink!

Do not put meat, fats, oils, dairy products or pet waste into your compost bins. They attract rats and other scavengers, and they can spread diseases. Don’t put garden clippings from diseased or mildewed plants in your compost bin. Send it to the landfill or burn it instead.

Toss your compost every week or so to increase air flow through the pile. This helps it decompose quickly and with little odor. Some gardeners do this by keeping two bins side by side and forking the half-made compost from one to the other regularly. If you find worms or saprophytic fungi -- a network of fine, white threads in a clump of compost – that is a sign that your compost pile is “working” nicely. Worms and beneficial fungi help plant material to decompose.

It’s also important to keep your compost pile moist. Dry material does not decompose well. If you have a long period without rain, water the compost bin when you water the garden.

Decomposing plant materials create heat. Expert composters often use special thermometers to monitor the temperature at the center of the compost pile. Home gardeners usually just stick their hands into the pile and see if it feels pleasantly warm. If the pile is cold, add more green material.

If you shred materials before adding them to the pile, they will break down faster. Most compost piles will turn to finished compost in three to six months. When your compost is black and earthy-smelling, with a soft, crumbly texture, it’s ready to use.

Composting has many benefits. It saves you time and money — no more bagging and hauling leaves and grass clippings to the city compost site or paying someone to pick up your yard waste. Adding compost to the soil increases its organic matter, which enhances the soil's ability to hold nutrients and water. Thus, using compost in your lawn and garden reduces dependence on other fertilizers. Compost also makes good mulch for protecting and establishing new plants. And best of all, it’s so easy to make compost!

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