Composting saves money, recycles and gives you the world's best fertilizer.
No more paying the garbage collector to haul off your yard and kitchen wastes. No more buying fertilizers because none you could buy would be better than what you yourself can cook up. You"ll be helping the environment by recycling and avoiding chemical fertilizers. And you won’t have to worry about keeping the kids and pets away from treated areas. All this for free!
Ingredients
Have you ever wanted to be the kind of cook who walks into the kitchen and just starts throwing things together. Here’s your chance. Throw in whichever of these ingredients you have around; leaves, grass clippings, hay, straw, sawdust, coffee grounds, wood ashes, shredded newspapers, hedge clippings, chopped corncobs, garden plant debris, vegetable and fruit scraps from the kitchen and even weeds ( if you get your compost hot enough).
This is strictly a vegetarian recipe, however, so do not add bones, meat scraps, fat, grease or other animal products. These materials will attract animals to the pile, may stink, and will slow the decomposition.
The Baking Dish
What do you want to cook your compost in? The choice of containers is as unlimited as the ingredients.
The simplest is just a free standing pile. That’s right, you don’t have to build anything if you don’t want. Your chosen ingredients stacked in a pile will break down. And if you make the pile big enough (3 foot square), keep it damp and give it air, it will do just fine. If, however, you don’t want the dog digging around in it or just want a little more organized look, you can build a bin. Again you can keep things simple and use anything from chicken wire to snow fence or with a little more effort, build a wooden or even brick structure. If you choose to use wire fencing material, make a circular shape measuring 3 feet or more across and at least three feet high. When it’s time to turn the pile, you can construct a second bin to use (this is called a two bin system) or you can pull the fence away from the pile, set the fence back up next to it and transfer the pile over.
If you have a lot of waste to work with you might want to build a three bin system. Our favorite blueprint for this is a 10 foot long wire mesh surrounded by a wood frame. The sides are four foot deep and the height of the bin is four foot. Divide the bin equally into three compartments, again the dividers are simply a wire mesh framed with wood. The front is left open and slats inserted as needed as you pile in the ingredients. This three bin system gives you a space for older compost that is in the process of cooking, another space for collecting new materials and an empty bin to turn the cooking pile into as needed.
Cooking Instructions
Air
The microbes that are responsible for decomposition of the compost pile need air. That is why any good compost bin design will have plenty of air holes. Turning the pile is another way to get air into the pile. A third method is to use some sort of large object to separate layers and allow air into the pile. This can be anything from a corn stalk to a pipe or tube with holes drilled at various places.
Water
Moisture is another important ingredient to the compost pile. If the pile dries out, the cooking process will slow or even quit. But at the same time you don’t want the pile soaking wet. You can judge the right amount of moisture by the feel of the pile. It should be as moist as a damp sponge, but no more wet than that.
Size
The size of the compost pile also will make a difference in whether it cooks or not. A pile must be at least 3 foot square. In other words, it must be 3 feet high, 3 feet wide and 3 feet long.
Mix Well
Just about any pile of yard waste will eventually rot down to compost, but the proper combination of ingredients will get the pile hotter quicker thus giving you the rich fertilizer you want sooner. The ideal combination is 2/3 brown and 1/3 green material. Browns are such things as straw, wood chips, autumn leaves and sawdust. Greens are grass clippings, coffee grounds, kitchen scrapes and horse manure. The ingredients are usually layered to begin. You could start by filling your preferred bin with a six inch layer of brown material such as leaves and then topping that with a three inch layer of green material such as grass clippings or kitchen scrapes. Continue this layering until you have a pile of sufficient size.
Cooking Time
Now you can sit back and watch your recipe cook. A good way to judge your efforts is with a compost thermometer. It is a thermometer with a very long stem on it so you can stick it down into the heart of your pile. If everything is right, you should see the temperature soar in a matter of days to 150, 160, or even 170 degrees. A pile that reaches 140-150 degrees will do a good job, but if you want to add weeds or diseased plant products, you must get the temperature up to 160 and maintain it.
Serve Up the Feast
Your plants will think it is Thanksgiving day when you serve up your feast of crumbly black gold. You can serve it up ala mulch by just spreading around your bushes, trees or flower beds, dig it right into your garden soil, or make a tea. Tea is simply equal parts water and compost allowed to sit awhile and brew. Then quench the thirst of your houseplants or any other plant needing a boost.
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