The Basics of Composting

Composting is an essential part of any serious gardener's routine. It's an easy and necessary way to create good nutritious soil for use in planting. Many gardeners take pride in their composting and think of it as a type of art form.

Composting is a process of humans using natural processes to achieve a desired product. With mounding and composting contraptions, we are only speeding up what would happen on its own in nature. By composting, you are creating a win-win situation. You are getting a valuable gardening product, while cutting down on how much gets thrown into your trash can, and ultimately dumps and incinerators. By composting, not only that the municipal dump has less "stock" to worry about, but it also aids in increasing the soil fertility, which happens to be the main purpose of composting. Composting will, in the long term, save you money by providing a valuable plant medium.

There are really no set rules on how to go about composting perfectly. It is a learned art form, and you will figure out what works as you go along. Really there are no set right and wrong answers. The first thing you'll need to determine is where to place this somewhat unattractive and smelly pile of rotting debris.

Selecting a proper location is essential, taking into consideration the accessibility and asthetics. You don't want to choose a place which is too far away from your main source of composting materials. Will it be easy to get the kitchen scraps to the pile? At the same time, however, a location too close to the house will result in an unpleasant odor.

Another key factor in location is the mound's relationship to water. Water is a key element in triggering this process to take place. Whether near a ditch, gutter drip, or hose, your compost heap needs water in order to decompose properly.

Meanwhile, the sight should not be oversaturated and sloppy. It should be level and well drained, but with access to water.

Once your location has been selected, you'll need to determine what kinds of compost materials you are going to use. You might think that you'll just throw everything onto the heap, but this might not be such a good thing. Weeds, for example, do not make a very productive compost material, and should be avoided. One must also consider the carbon:nitrogen ratio. A perfect 30:1 ratio is ideal for rapid decomposition. The higher the carbon level, the slower the process will happen. Meanwhile, if the nitrogen gets too high, an odor problem will occur.

To clear this up, you can think of carbon as brown materials and nitrogen as green ones. Carbon materials for your pile include paper, dead branches, and other dead wood ingredients. Food scraps, manure (even though it's brown), and grass clippings.

When adding to the pile, add the new composting materials, some soil, and give the heap a sprinkle of water. The soil will house microorganism, which will help to heat things up. Keep your pile moist but not too damp. Good air circulation is also key for optimum productivity. This can be achieved by turning the pile occasionally to provide fresh air to the internal regions. The infusion of this air should also help to keep bad odors under control.

Your compost heap should maintain a temperature of between 100 and 140 degrees F. Any higher and the microorganisms could die. You can use a soil thermometer on occasion to check the temp of your pile.

Once your compost is dark, crumbly and has that earthy smell, it should be ready to use.

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Composting Basics Using Compost Bins

Did you know that waste in excess of 60% that is created by the average U.S. household could be recycled or composted? Regrettably, only 8 percent of American waste is composted, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Did you also know that yard waste, such as grass trimmings, adds up to almost 20% of all garbage produced every year? When dumped into a landfill site, organic matter like food and grass trimmings occupy a large area and play a significant part in the formation of methane gas, a greenhouse gas that "remains in the atmosphere for approximately 9-15 years...and is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide" (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).

Composting organic matter like food and grass trimmings is simple, especially when using a purchased compost bin. Making a compost pile on your own is certainly an option, but compost bins on the market come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and time and again, make the process of composting virtually effortless. No matter how you choose to compost your organic wastes, the benefits of composting are indisputable. Composting helps the environment by decreasing greenhouse gases and other contaminants in the air that would be created because of simply throwing organic wastes into the local landfill or incinerator. Composting also saves money by providing you with free fertilizer for your garden. Finally, compost puts nutrients back into the soil, making your garden soil richer and plants healthier.

The initial phase in composting is to select a compost bin. Compost bins are obtainable in all shapes and sizes, so the size of your garden or yard is not an issue. Large compost bins let devoted gardeners with a sizeable growing area the ability to make enough compost to last throughout the growing season. On the other hand, small compost bins can fit in the kitchen or on the balcony of a small apartment home and provide enough compost for house plants and a small herb garden. Knowing how much time you wish to spend tending to your compost pile and how much space you have to devote to a compost bin will benefit you while you select the most appropriate compost bin.

Now that you have selected the best compost bin, it's time to begin filling it with organic matter. But can you put any kind of organic matter into a compost pile? Unfortunately, no. The common advice is to fill your compost bin with a mixture of 50 percent "browns," and 50 percent "greens." The "browns" add carbon to the mix and consist of some of the ingredients that follow:

Dried leaves
Straw
Chopped Cornstalks - must be shredded or chopped into very small pieces first
Shredded Paper
Shredded Cardboard
Paper Towels

"Greens" add nitrogen to the mix and comprise a few of the items that follow:

Grass Clippings
Garden Trimmings
Most Kitchen Wastes (see below for exceptions)
Fresh Hay
Manure from non-meat eating animals

Do not include the following types of organic matter into your compost bin unless properly prepared first:

Plants with diseases
Grass clippings with pesticides or other chemicals
Hedge trimmings and branches
Nut shells
Peat moss
Pine Cones and pine needles
Sawdust
Sod and soil
Weeds
Wood ashes
Wood chips

For information about how to prepare these types of organic matter for composting, visit the website of your local agricultural extension office.

Some organic matter does not belong in a compost bin. Never add the following items to the compost bin:

Animal related products that would attract pests and create an odor problem including bones; dairy products such as butter, cheese, mayonnaise, salad dressing, milk, yogurt, sour cream; fish scraps, meat
Other food wastes including cooked food, peanut butter, fatty or greasy foods
Manure from meat-eating animals (including humans)
Charcoal and briquettes
Dishwater
Glossy and/or colored paper
Sludge (biosolids)

Maintaining your compost pile depends on the type of compost bin you have selected. Some compost bins require that the pile be mixed periodically, but some compost bins require no mixing. Refer to the compost bin manufacturer's instructions for details.

By purchasing or building your own compost bin that meets your specific needs, and by following some basic rules and recommendations, you can create your own dollar stretching, earth friendly, plant enriching compost.

Trey Collier is owner of BackyardCity.com, North America's finest Outdoor Casual Living Store, designed and created to help fashion outdoor living spaces. Since 2001, BackyardCity.com has offered internet customers quality outdoor living products, including Compost Bins, at very reasonable prices.