Now that you have decided that you want to compost, there is a list of items that you will need to get started. Most of these items will be available to you already and all that’s needed is a small amount of planning ahead of time.
After you pick a location for your compost bin or pile (ensure it is in an easily accessible location) you are going to need approximately four inches of leaves as a base. If you are able to chip the leaves prior it will make things progress and breakdown faster but it is not a requirement. The quantity of leaves you will need to make a four-inch base will vary depending on the size of the bin you have chosen.
Your next layer should be about one inch of high-quality soil. If you cannot find this in your own garden a small bag purchased from your local nursery will work fine.
Then start layering the food for the microbes to eat. There are two types of food you are going to need: brown (yard waste) and green (food scraps or other organic waste). A common ratio is two parts brown for every part of green.
You are going to need a spade or heavy-duty pitch fork to rotate the compost at least weekly. If there is a dry-spell, you will need a hose or other means of adding water to keep the pile moist.
With such simple materials and start-up instructions, anyone can start their own compost pile in half a day. If you choose to not use a bin, consider buying some wire mesh to contain the pile as it can be wrapped around the base of the pile in a circular shape. You will be able to start using the compost after a couple of months.
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Composting by Robin Fisher
Beside being a free and nutrient-rich benefit to your soil and plants, there are many other
benefits to composting:
- Composting will reduce or eliminate weeds in your garden as it prevents weed from sprouting and prospering and is a natural alternative to pesticides.
- Mature compost material can stop or prevent erosion in certain areas. The binding capability in the compost can keep the soil in place and prevent drop-offs.
- It reduces the amount of organic material that goes to a dump unnecessarily, which in turn reduces the amount of methane gas a dump creates during decomposition.
- In wetlands areas that are in trouble, compost has been used to revitalize the soil
and surrounding plant life.
- Compost material strengthens the soil and can prevent your plants from contracting diseases that kill or spread to the rest of the crop or garden.
- If your soil is overly dry, adding compost to the soil and thoroughly mixing can help the soil retain more water keeping it moist.
- If your soil is clay-like, you can make the dirt easier to work with and less dense by adding mature compost.
- Provides important nutrients and micronutrients to the soil and plants.
- Increases the temperature of the soil creating a conducive environment for plant
growth and health.
These are just a few of the benefits that can be derived from using compost. It helps the environment, your garden, your plants and the planet. The small amount of time that it takes to set-up and maintain a compost bin or pile is well worth the time and effort.
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Composting by Robin Fisher
There are many sizes, shapes, and styles of composting bins to choose from. You can
make one yourself or opt for not using one at all and create a compost pile or heap.
A compost tumbler is a cylindrical shape much like a barrel laid on its side. It can be
turned on a base that is supported on the flat ends. By turning the drum the materials are rotated and aerated at the same time. It is an easy and effective way to rotate your compost.
A bio-orb container is a round ball and comes in various sizes. The benefits
of this type of container are the ease of moving it (you can roll it over to your yard
waste and roll it back to its base), and the act of rolling it also aerates and rotates the
contents. There are many small round holes in the container to let air in too.
A wooden box with slats or a wooden framed box with mesh sides can be purchased or
easily made at home. If you can find four wooden pallets, you can nail them together to
create a compost bin very inexpensively or you can find a roll of wire mesh at your local
hardware store. Both of these options allow air to circulate as long as the contents are not
too compacted.
If you do not want to use a bin, start with a pile of glass clippings or leaves and start to
layer your food scraps on top. As time goes by and your pile continues to grow make
sure you rotate and ìstirî it frequently. Be warned though, it is not as easy to turn a pile
that is not contained. They tend to grow in circumference over time as the pile spreads
out after rotating.
Check out our
gardening tools page for our suggestion on a composting bin.
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Composting by Robin Fisher
Composting is recycling your kitchen waste and lawn trimmings and turning them into a valuable resource for your garden or houseplants. This is done by speeding up the process that the materials you use to compost go through on their own.
Compost is not soil. It is a common misconception that the end-result of composting is the dirt that you find in the ground. It is a substance that acts as a fertilizer (enriching the soil) to grow hardier and healthier plants.
Before you begin composting there are choices to be made: what type of container and style suits your project, what you will be putting into your compost bin, and the location of your bin. But regardless of these decisions, how you convert your waste into compost happens the same way. It is a breakdown of waste materials as they are digested by microbes (bacteria and fungi).
The microbes are the workers of the composting equation. They need air, water, and food to do their job and it is up to you to supply it to them in the right amounts. If you have heard that having a compost bin or pile creates a foul odor it is most likely the result of not enough air circulating throughout the waste material. Without air, the material will still breakdown but it will be done by anaerobic microbes (organisms that do not need oxygen) as opposed to aerobic (ones that need oxygen). So if you do have an unpleasant smell coming from your compost bin or pile you can rotate the material to let in more air or add a substance to create more room for the air to circulate. Wood chips or hay are good for this.
Composting is good for the environment and your garden – it eliminates the amount of waste you throw away and enriches the soil your plants grow in.
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