Home Composting - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I hope you found my last article on composting informative but there were a few things I didn't go through last time that I would like to touch base on now. You found out last time that there are basic needs that you need to give for a compost to be productive. Those basic needs are air, food, and water. Now that we have the basics down, and we know how to properly deliver these basics I will now get a little more in depth into what you should and shouldn't put into your compost.

Let's start off with what you shouldn't put in your compost bin. This is an area I really could have used some more knowledge in my first time using a fresh batch of compost in my garden.

1. Any wood product that has been chemically treated (pressure treated lumber) should be left out of your compost. When the wood or sawdust from these types of wood get broken down the chemicals that were used to treat the wood leach into the compost and will ruin the garden or plants that you use the compost in.
2. Diseased plants may infect your garden if the compost was not hot enough to kill off all of the disease. So unless you want to play Russian roulette with next year's garden I would stay away from composting diseased plants.
3. Human and pet waste should never be used in a compost by a back yard gardener. Although possible to effectively compost these materials you take the risk of your pile not being hot enough to kill off all of the diseases that are carried in the waste. There are people who do this type of composting but they are well trained in hot composts and know the temperature and time it takes to safely decompose this type of matter. For the back yard enthusiast I would recommend staying away.
4. Fatty foods and meat waste (including bones) should be left out as well. They will take forever to break down and the local rats and mice may make your compost their new watering hole. If you want to still use these materials you can bury them in your 8" deep in your garden. This will make sure the little vermin can't smell and then get at your leftovers.
5. Pernicious weeds can be a particular pest to compost because even if you chop them up really well these types of weeds will still be able to sprout new roots while in the compost. But there is a way. After weeding leave the uprooted weeds in a pile in the direct sunlight for a couple weeks until they are nice and brown. Then they are safe.

Remember how I said I could have used some of this info in my first compost bin. I found out #5 the hard way. I chopped up a few morning glories into my first compost and the next season I was pulling dozens of them out of my garden where there was none before.

The next thing to learn is what you should put in your compost.

1. Grass is a good material to put in your compost but I have always found it easier to leave it on the ground to help the lawn. But if you decide to use them in your compost make sure to add your grass in thin layers, and mix thoroughly to avoid a slimy layer that will not want to break down.
2. If you want a great material to put in your compost bin, kitchen waste is the way to go. Form fruits and vegetable leftovers, to tea and coffee grounds, this stuff is great to compost. One thing to consider is to make sure your compost bin is secure so this type of waste does not attract the local vermin population like meat products would. Although this type of kitchen waste will break down a lot faster than the meat products will it may still be tempting for a mouse or rat so you may want to think about a bin with a secure top. Avoid milk products as well since this also is a big lure for rats and mice.
3. Leaves can be a great source of material for your compost. Just to think people just rake up and throw away this stuff. If you are feeling energetic why not rake up the neighbor's lawn too. Think of all the point around the block you could earn with your neighbors. Like grass leaves should be mixed in well to avoid clumping up and turning into a big mat in the middle of your bin.
4. Hay and Straw will make an ideal "Brown" ingredient to your mix. Not only will they supply a good nitrogen source for all the little microbes to feast on but they also help your pile from packing down and not allowing enough air to the center of the pile. Remember when you have a "Brown" ingredient in your pile you will also need "green" ingredients (grass, fruits and vegetables) to make the decomposition go quickly.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article on the materials best suited for your compost bin. I will be writing one more article on composting to go along with this and my last one so I hope you will come back soon to check it out.

Hi my name is Doug and I live in the Okanagan Valley in British Colombia BC. I have spent most of my life working my way through various different career paths that has helped me develop a diverse knowledge base to which I write on. For more on gardening and more for your home and health needs go to http://homeandhealthmishmash.blogspot.com/

Douglas_Hill

Home Composting - Time to Get Creative

Hi again, I have now taken you through the in's and out's of building your first compost. Or have I. There is a lot you can know when it comes to compost. My goal is not to make you an authority on the subject, but to give you the knowledge to grow and use your compost in the most effective way possible.

Let us start with temperature. Some people feel the need to keep their compost in a hot (sunshine) location. They say the heat speeds up the digestion by the microbes in the compost pile. This is not necessarily true. Although good composts will be slightly warm to the touch it is not from the sunshine it will receive but from the collective body heat from the billions of microbes digesting your compost. Not to say you cannot put it in the sun but you will have to make sure you have a sufficient size of a pile to keep all those microbes busy.

If you go this route a pile in the size range of one cubic meter will be needed (roughly 3feet X 3feet X3feet). You don't want these guys to run out of material to eat and die off so this is why I suggest keeping the pile in a cool place. Most people don't generate that much yard and kitchen waste to keep a pile this big going strong so just use a nice small one that is well taken care of and you will be just fine.

How to tell if your compost is done is not an exact science. It really does not matter for a garden if you can still decipher what some of the small bits are. Any remaining material that is not decomposed will be finished off when you add your compost to the garden, but when it comes to starting seeds you want to make sure your compost is "well done".

There are huge benefits to adding compost to your garden. The best part is no matter what soil type you have it can be helped by adding compost. For sandier soils it aids in water retention by adding organic material to the mix. Or for Clay soils it makes the soil more porous so the water can drain a little quicker so you don't wind up with a layer of concrete on top of your garden.

One other point I want to bring up is that all of your composting does not have to be done in a bin. When you get a lot of material all at once (cutting a large lawn or autumn leaves), you can till them into your garden to allow it to break down there. Or you can bury your kitchen waste in a trench in the garden at least 8" deep so your kitchen waste can decompose right where the plants will be planted next season. If you were to go with either of these routes make sure to do this in the late fall or at least two months before you plant to make sure the material is broken down enough.

I would have to say the best part of composting is the various ways to which you can use it. There are the obvious ways of taking your compost and mixing it in with your soil in your garden to improve your plant growth in the next season, or when used as a topper that will be slowly incorporated into the soil. Then there are a couple of other ways to use it that are my favorites. You can actually use your compost as mulch. Unlike using it as a topper as I mentioned above mulch is meant to cover the entire area of soil around the plants instead of just a dressing around the plant. This will add nutrients to all the soil in the area instead of just at the plant. My favourite way to use my mulch is to make a tea out of it. All you have to do is make a 50/50 mix of compost and water and let it sit for a week. After that drain the water in to another container and use it for a boost of nutrients to sick plants. The leftover compost mush at the bottom can be thrown into the garden as mulch. Tea can also be used on young seedlings but I recommend you dilute it well first to avoid damaging the seeds.

The last thing for me to talk about is the types of compost systems out there. You can by one or build one it all depends on how much compost you want to make and how much you want to spend. Or you could go without any bins and just make your compost on the ground. I just caution you if you choose to build your own bin to make sure you do not use treated lumber. The chemicals can leach into your compost and later contaminate your garden.

In whatever system you use there will be advantages and disadvantages. Although these differences between many of these bins are usually just ease of use and aesthetic the compost you will get from most of them will be fairly comparable.

Hi my name is Doug and I live in the Okanagan Valley in British Colombia BC. I have spent most of my life working my way through various different career paths that has helped me develop a diverse knowledge base to which I write on. For more on gardening and more for your home and health needs go to http://homeandhealthmishmash.blogspot.com/

Douglas Hill

Garden Composting - A Guide For Beginners

Compost is a natural fertilizer that gives you a healthy soil which is full of nutrients. Expensive and often harmful fertilizers are unnecessary - compost is the most effective and eco-friendly way to achieve a beautiful garden.

Composting is ever more popular and has numerous environmental benefits. So don't be tempted when faced with the shiny pre-bagged variety at the garden centre. Take a look through our information and tips to learn why you should do it and all you need for fool-proof compost.

What is Compost?

Compost is the natural result of the biodegradation of organic matter by micro-organisms (bacteria, yeasts and fungi), worms and invertebrates. In soil science, this rich, dark and sweet-smelling product is called humus. And you can use it on your lawn, in your plant beds, in houseplants or as a potting and seed starting mix.

Why make Compost?

There are many benefits to making compost. It is not surprising that gardeners name it black gold.

• It's free - reuse waste and save money
• It saves waste disposal costs - with increasing restrictions and rising council taxes
• It helps the environment. Your waste need not be transported to landfill sites - in fact it's 100% environmentally friendly - it doesn't pollute in any way
• It makes great, healthy soil - recycling nutrients and improving structure
• It's a natural fertilizer - saving money on chemical fertilizers
• It helps to retain soil moisture
• It also improves drainage with even water retention
• It increases worm activity which is invaluable for gardens
• It breaks up clay soil

What should go into your Composter?

You can divide the two types of waste that should go into your compost into 'greens' and 'browns'. 'Greens' are quick to rot and provide essential nitrogen and moisture. 'Browns' are slower to rot, provide carbon and fibre, and allow the formation of air pockets. For the perfect balance, aim for approximately 2 parts 'Green' to 1 part 'Brown' in weight, with only small amounts of items listed under 'What not to add'.

What to add to your compost bin

Greens

• Food scraps such as vegetable peelings, fruit scraps and tea and coffee grounds
• Garden refuse such as grass clippings and weeds
• Herbivore droppings such as those of guinea pigs and rabbits
• Rotted manure
• Urine - preferably diluted with water

Browns

• Cardboard and paper such as egg boxes and newspapers
• Fallen leaves
• Sawdust
• Straw
• Twigs, branches and bark

Other ingredients

• Hair is slow to decompose but a good source of nitrogen
• Egg shells - these will not decompose in the bin but will add valuable minerals
• Natural fibres such as 100% wool or cotton

What not to add

• Weeds with seeds or pernicious weeds
• Diseased plants
• Thick branches
• Disposable nappies
• Meat and fish
• Cooked food
• Grease
• Dairy products
• Bones
• Coal and coke ash
• Dog droppings and cat litter

How to make compost

The key to perfect compost is a good balance of 'Greens' and 'Browns'. Plan your kitchen storage facilities to make sure your valuable leftovers are not wasted: for example using our ergonomic kitchen caddy.

After adding your products, it really is as simple as leaving it to itself: the breakdown is a natural process so just keep adding until the bin is full and settled. To make this as quick as possible make sure all paper and cardboard is shredded or broken up. With this method your compost will take 6 to 18 months. If you want to speed the process up, then turn the material each week and make sure your bin is placed in the sun. Once your compost is dark brown, crumbly, thick and moist, and also producing a sweet, earthy aroma, it is ready to use.

The Compost Bin

With their green color blending into garden aesthetics and their robust structure with a lid to protect the contents from the elements and help insulate - compost bins are designed to help the composting process along its way. And you will not need to use external agents such as bio-liquids and powders to operate a modern and good quality compost bin. They come in various sizes so don't just buy the largest; choose one that fits the size of your garden. A wide opening also makes adding and removing compost easy.

See the compost bins in our range.

Edwin Lloyd

Edwin Lloyd is the Managing Director of My Greener Home, a UK based website offering a wide range of products to cut your household bills. If you are seeing your gas, electricity, water or food bills rising then come to My Greener Home and we can help you push them back down again. With products ranging from energy saving bulbs through to water butts, My Greener Home will have something to make your home cheaper to run.

The Composting Process And Vegetable Gardening

Biological gardening is gaining ground and for good reasons. It environmental friendly and if you are growing your own vegetables you are sure they are healthy.

The composting process is a very good way to enhance the structure of your gardens soil. To learn more about this useful process just read on

During the composting process, the raw materials that are used are compacted, dehydrated, and re-hydrated to create mulch that will enhance the fertilizer you are already using.

The materials for the compost are all natural, so you can use scraps of food that have not been eaten, fish heads, and debris from your yard or neighborhood in order to create a soil that is gentle on the environment--and your food.

Many people choose this method because it allows them to grow organic crops without having to pay the additional price for organic groceries in a supermarket.

The materials for compost are usually dried leaves and twigs, along with vegetable food wastes. These materials are placed in a container with sufficient ventilation and allowed to decompose in order to create lush, healthy soil that your vegetables and fruits will grow well in.

You may also want to consider worm composting, which can make the soil richer in some cases. You'll need to know which kinds of worms are best to use, and what to feed the worms during the process.

You'll also have to find out which composter you want to use for the process. The size of the device will determine how much material you can store in the container at one time. Deciding whether or not you want a system that gives you compost in batches or not is also a consideration.

Some composters are continuously decomposing the waste you put inside of them, which means you'll always have soil for your plants and garden.

Anyone can participate in the composting process; all you'll need is a container (you can use an old garbage can or wooden crate) and the materials mentioned above.

You can also take gardening classes and get special tips from sites like www.pike.com, or you can visit a Pike Nursery in your area to learn more about the composting process. You can also check out classes at the Home Depot and Lowe's to find out how to give your garden the extra boost it needs to produce all the fresh fruits and vegetables that your family needs in order to be healthy and happy.

To learn more about the benefits of composting, visit www.epa.gov.

Hans Dekker

The Five Point Plan For Successful Composting

Making your own compost is not only easy and exciting but should also be considered as valuable 'brown gold'. But why do so many gardeners have problems producing the 'brown gold'? Problems usually occur when too much wet or dry material has been added or more likely insufficient variety of raw material.

But making good quality compost is not difficult providing you follow the five simple rules. Follow these five simple rules and you too can produce your very own 'brown gold' home made compost.

Rule # 1: Well for starters, good compost requires a good mixture of raw material, air and water.
Rule # 2: Do not allow compost heap become too dry or too wet, so introduce some air into the composter by turning contents regularly with garden fork at least once per month.
Rule # 3: To keep vermin and flies away, avoid putting any cooked food or meats onto the compost heap.
Rule # 4: To prevent any nasty odours, do not add large amounts of grass cuttings, which with high water content can cause a slimy mess.
Rule # 5: Avoid the risk of spreading any weed seed by disposing of all weeds separately.

Remember good raw material will include all round mix of high nitrogen (grass, plants, and vegetable cuttings) and high carbon (dried leaves, hedge clippings) ingredients in your composter. Moisture stimulates bacterial activity which produces the 'brown gold'.

The process from start to finish can take 3-6 months to complete and it is a good idea to have two composting units running in parallel, one very advanced and one at early stage.

Owen_Chubb

A Look at Composting

Composting is generally recycling, that is to reuse and recycle what earth has bestowed to us. It is about the love for our environment and ensuring those future generations will continue to reap the rewards that we are bestowed with.

Compost is basically an organic product that helps to fertilize our soil, to allow it to have the nutrients and minerals to nurture. There are fundamentally two types of compost, the greens and the browns. The greens are loaded in nitrogen and protein while the browns include high amount of carbon or carbohydrates.

We can each do our duties by contributing to composting as composting involves materials from nature that are recycled. Among them are vegetables, animal manure, grass, dried leaves, sawdust, etc. Those can be utilized for the sole aim of gardening especially if you are into organic gardening unlike the wider term of recycling, which comprise synthetic materials. With compost, it gives rise to healthy plant and in turn healthy produce.

Organic food has becomes popular as more people found it to be beneficial to health and besides that, now you have organic soap, organic tissue, cloth and many more. The trend is towards causes that help Mother Earth or our selfish and careless ways, if left uncheck will lead to the gradual destruction of our only dwelling.

We need to have a deeper appreciation of the process of decomposing, which entails wastes or the remains of plant. Compost is full of minerals and can be use as a substitute for garden soils. Compost can be created without much difficulty as practically all organic materials can be turned into compost and it is relatively easy to use as well.

Composting can be messy and troublesome to some of us as it is smelly but there are many reasons why we should get ourselves into composting. Firstly, all the materials are readily available as well as give all the nutrients and minerals that the plant need. In addition, compost can help to check soil erosion by improving water retention. For a farmer, it is handy to prevent pests on top of the suppression of diseases.

Environmentalist and conservationists celebrate as compost reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. These are adequate reasons for those who care about mother earth to put in time and effort in composting. Composting is the organic part of recycling, as with the 3 R's of recycling, to reuse, recycle and reduce, the future generation that inhabits mother earth will appreciate your concern and effort.

Jason Jhyiong

Composting A Natural Life Cycle

Composting Cycle

In the soft, warm bosom of a decaying compost heap, a transformation from life to death and back again is taking place. Life is leaving the living plants of yesterday, but in their death these leaves and stalks pass on their vitality to the coming generations of future seasons. Here in a dank and moldy pile the wheel of life is turning.

Compost is more than a fertilizer or a healing agent for the soil's wounds. It is a symbol of continuing life. Nature herself made compost before man first walked the earth and before the first dinosaur reared its head above a primeval swamp. Leaves falling to the forest floor and slowly moldering are composting. The dead grass of the meadow seared by winter's frost is being composted by the dampness of the earth beneath. Birds, insects and animals contribute their bodies to this vast and continuing soil rebuilding program of nature.

Compost Heap

The compost heap in your garden is an intensified version of this process of death and rebuilding which is going on almost everywhere in nature. In the course of running a garden there is always an accumulation of organic wastes of different sorts-leaves, grass clippings, weeds, twigs-and since time immemorial gardeners have been accumulating this material in piles, eventually to spread it back on the soil as rich, dark humus.

In many parts of the world today, composting is practiced just as it was hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Farmers and householders in the less industrialized regions of Asia, Africa and Europe have no source of commercial fertilizer, and consequently make rough compost piles of cattle manure, garbage, human wastes, straw, and weeds. These piles decay into humus, which is then used as a soil conditioner for the kitchen garden and farm fields. Such compost is not very rich in plant nutrients, but it is a manageable form of humus that maintains the tilth and general condition of soil that has been used for generations.

Composting Methods

Garden waste material can be converted in many ways into a black, fragrant, crumbly, partially decomposed organic residue called compost.

In all composting your objective is to arrange organic waste material in such a way that soil bacteria and fungi can thrive and multiply as they break it down. The bacteria are the converters of the raw material and they must have a workable environment. They need moisture, air and food.

Basic method

Make the compost with a mixture of green and dry materials. Grass clippings, green weeds, lettuce leaves, pea vines and other succulent materials contain sugar and proteins that are excellent food for the bacteria. They are decomposed rapidly. Sawdust, dry leaves, small twigs and prunings contain very little nitrogen and decompose very slowly when composted alone. A mixture of the green and the dry is what you want.

Gardeners have found that the best way to build a compost pile is to put a layer of mixed fertilizer, manure and garden soil between each layer of waste material.

You start the pile by spreading a layer of the organic refuse about 6 to 8 inches deep. Spread over this layer the mixture of manure, garden soil and fertilizer. Both manure and a commercial fertilizer should be used to give the bacteria the mineral nutrients they need. The greater the amount of fertilizer, the richer the compost will be. A good average amount in each layer is 2 cupfuls of ammonium sulfate or blood meal per square foot. Use more with dry waste material, less with green material.

Wet down the fertilizer layer just enough to carry the chemicals through the layer; don't wash them out with heavy watering.

In areas where the soil is on the acid side, adding a cupful of ground limestone, crushed oyster shell or dolomite lime to each layer will give you a less acid product. Add another layer of vegetable matter, spread the soil-manure chemical layer over it and wet it down. Repeat the layering process until you run out of material or the pile is 4 to 5 feet high.

Keep the pile as wet as a squeezed-out sponge. In a dry, warm climate, it may need water every 4 to 5 days. The size of the woody material will affect the rate of decomposition. If dry leaves go into the pile as they are raked up, decomposition will be much slower than if the leaves are shredded.

Under normal conditions the pile should be turned 2 to 3 weeks after you start it, then about every 5 weeks. It should be ready to use in 3 months.

Fast, high-heat method

You can shorten the ripening time for a compost to a few weeks if all the refuse material is put through a shredder before building the pile. The smaller pieces decompose faster since more surface is exposed to decay bacteria. Shredding also makes a fluffier mixture, allowing more efficient air and water penetration. If renting or buying a shredder is not in your program, shred all large leaves with a rotary mower.

If the pile is built when the weather is warm, you'll see heat waves rising above it in 24 to 30 hours. Turn the pile to mix the material and follow up with a thorough watering. It will heat up again, and in a few days be hot enough to require turning again. Each time you turn it, move outer materials toward the center where heat and moisture encourage decomposition.

One distinct advantage to this fast, high-heat method of composting is the destruction of most of the weed seeds.

The compost is ready for use when it has cooled, has a dark and rich color, is crumbly and has that good earth fragrance.

It pays to divide your composting area into three piles or compartments. The first compartment is for the daily collection of the organic waste-vegetable harvest refuse, vegetable peelings from the kitchen, coffee grounds, egg shells, shredded paper, small prunings, wood ashes, and weeds green or dry. The next compartment is for the working compost to which no additions are being made but frequent turning is the rule. The third compartment is for the finished or nearly finished product.

Gene_DeFazzio

Municipal Composting Programs - A Way to Go Green

Composting has occurred since plants first existed on the earth. When leaves and fruit fall from trees, and when plants die, they drop to the ground, enriching the soil through the process of natural decomposition. This is nature's way of composting.

Humans have been composting for decades, maybe even centuries. In our recent history, agricultural communities have used composting as a way to enrich their gardens and farmland. In the last two decades, a much larger movement of composting in urban areas has begun, and in recent years, composting has taken on its own popularity as a new way to "go green." City dwellers are becoming more aware of the benefits of compost in their gardens and flowerbeds, and they are realizing that it is best to recycle natural products back to the earth.

Municipalities have had a major influence in this movement with programs to dispose of recyclable waste. These programs allow, and sometimes require, citizens to collect their organic waste such as leaves, branches, grass, and other yard trimmings for composting. These programs vary in season and structure but they all have the same goal of recycling natural material to the earth's benefit. In many cases, after the material has been composted, the city sells the compost back to citizens who wish to purchase it for their yards or gardens. In this way, city composting programs provide two services: they allow city dwellers to compost their organic waste, and they also make compost material available for sale at reasonable prices.

A municipal composting program may seem simple, but it can be a large project to manage. First, the citizens of the municipality must be educated about what types of products can be collected and how they are to be contained. Some city composting programs only collect yard waste, while others also allow food scraps. Second, the city must decide how they wish to collect the waste. Some municipalities use bulk collection, where leaves and waste are piled in the street or yard and trucks come collect the debris. Another way to collect the waste is through drop off sites where citizens can take their waste to a central collection area. Other communities use container collection, where the waste is put in specific types of containers such as biodegradable brown paper bags or in reusable containers and is collected by trucks.

After trucks have picked up the organic waste, the material must be transported to a central composting site to be processed and composted. Several months later, the waste you threw out will be available again for resale to citizens as premium compost. Compost can be used in many ways. Premium compost is a great way to enrich your soil, control erosion, or simply help your plants grow bigger and stronger!

The US Environmental Protection Agency indicates that 24% of the United States' solid waste is made up of yard trimmings and food scraps. Just think how much waste we could keep out of landfills if more cities began composting programs! With the ability to convert all this waste into premium compost and return it to the earth, these programs are hugely beneficial. If your city doesn't have an organized composting program, contact local officials in your area and prompt them to begin one. This is a way to get involved and give something back to this planet that we inhabit.

Ellen Bell