(which contain nitrogen)
•Kitchen scraps (fruits, vegetables)
•Fresh, green leaves
•Fresh material from the vegetable garden (leaves, stems, etc.) that are not yet dried out
•Animal manure (but not from dogs, cats or pet birds)
(which contain carbon)
•Paper (not glossy)
•Sawdust (not from preserved wood or composite wood)
These materials should not be used in composting:
•Meat products or bones
•Manure from dogs, cats, pet birds
•Plants sprayed with pesticides
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and yard clippings to compost. n I’ve been turning yard clippings and kitchen scraps to compost for more than 30 years. I’ve done it while living in apartments, rental homes and homes I’ve owned. I’ve composted in big piles, small bins and even in bales of old straw. n Composting takes some thought, some time and sometimes energy, but compost you make yourself is the best compost for your garden.
What is composting?
Composting is a speeded-up version of a natural process; the decomposition of organic matter. You can make garden compost from kitchen scraps (fruits and vegetables), flowers, leaves, stems, roots, chipped or shredded wood — basically any plant material whose diameter is smaller than that of a pencil can be composted.
Benefits of compost
Compost improves soils by helping clay soil drain better and sandy soil hold more water.
Compost adds “good guys” in the form of beneficial microbes to soil, too. As compost breaks down and releases nutrients, those good guys quite literally deliver nutrients to plant roots. Some of the beneficial microbes even suppress the “bad guy” pathogens that cause plant diseases.
Backyard composting is sustainable as well. When you set leaves and grass cuttings out for greenwaste pickup, they are collected by big, gas-fueled, exhaust-spewing trucks. The trucks take them to a composting facility, where enormous, gas guzzling and exhaust spewing machines process it. When you buy the compost, it is delivered, by truck or car, back to your garden.
There’s no question that municipal composting is far better than filling landfills with greenwaste. Still, composting those materials at home, then using them in your own backyard is even more sustainable.
How to compost
There are three basic methods of backyard composting, each with advantages and disadvantages. Here’s an overview:
Hot composting: This method uses microbes to turn plant materials into compost.
Start with a cubic yard of “brown” materials such as leaves, paper and shredded wood, layered in equal portions with nitrogen-containing “green” materials such as fresh grass clippings and kitchen waste. Wet thoroughly to activate microbes already present on the browns and greens.
As the microbes digest the plant materials, they’ll heat the pile to at least 140 degrees. When the temperature starts to decline, turn the pile with a pitchfork to aerate it and restart the process. When the pile no longer heats it up, the compost is done. It will look and smell like chunky brown organic matter, free of weed seeds and pathogens.