Composting

Composting is a great way to turn kitchen waste into fertilizer for your garden. The average household produces more than 200 pounds of kitchen waste every year.

What can be composted?

Composting includes a balanced "browns mix" and "greens mix." Here's what greens and browns mean:

• Green Waste
  • Greens are materials that are rich in nitrogen or protein. They are also the items that tend to heat a compost pile up because they help the microorganisms in the pile grow and multiply quickly.

  • Green materials for composting consist mostly of wet or recently growing materials. Green materials are usually green or come from plants that were green at some point. But, this is not always the case. Here are green items:

    • Grass clippings
    • Coffee grounds/tea bags
    • Vegetable and fruit scraps
    • Trimmings from perennial and annual plants
    • Annual weeds that haven't seeded
    • Eggshells
    • Animal manures (cow, horse, sheep, chicken, rabbit, but not dog or cat manure)
    • Seaweed
    • Spent hops and malt
    • Old/ expired herbs and spices
    • Unpopped or burned popcorn

• Brown Waste 
  • Browns are carbon or carbohydrate-rich materials. The main job of browns in a compost pile is to be food sources for all of the lovely soil-dwelling organisms that will work with the microbes to break down the contents of your compost pile. Also, brown materials help to add bulk and help allow air to filter through the pile.
  • Brown materials for composting include dry or woody plant material. In most cases, these materials are brown, or naturally turn brown. Brown items include the following:
    • Fall leaves
    • Pine needles
    • Twigs, chipped tree branches/bark
    • Straw or hay
    • Sawdust
    • Corn stalks
    • Paper (newspaper, writing/printing paper, paper plates, napkins, and coffee filters)
    • Dryer lint
    • Cotton fabric
    • Corrugated cardboard (without waxy/slick coatings)
    • Paper plates (uncoated, must be cut/torn into smaller pieces)
    • Hair and fur 
    • Used paper napkins and towels*
    • Wooden chopsticks and toothpicks

All forms of kitchen waste can be composted but you will want to skip composting meat, dairy, and fats. These items will eventually break down but take much longer. However, these items are guaranteed to smell bad and attract flies, rodents, and other unwanted pests.

Don't compost the following items:

• Meat or fish scraps (Uncooked scraps can be reused in other recipes or preservation methods)
• Dairy, Fats and Oils (Fats and oils can be reused if it is filtered and stored properly)
• Plants treated with pesticides
• Diseased or insect-infested plants
• Weeds that have seeded
• Charcoal ash
• Dog or cat waste (Many types of livestock animal waste can be composted. Just check first!)

The Compost Ratio

You will often see recommendations for an ideal ratio of browns to greens. Generally, a ratio of 3 parts to 4 parts browns to 1 part greens works well, but you do not need to be exact about it.

If you do not get a good mix of brown and green materials, your compost pile may not heat up, may take forever to break down, and could start to stink up your yard. These issues can usually be remedied easily by tweaking the ratio.

If you find that your compost pile is not heating up, then you may need to add more green material to the compost. If you find that your compost pile is starting to smell, you may need to add more browns.

In the end, decomposition happens. It is a natural process. Pile your compostable items, turn them (or not), and in time, you will have compost. It really is that simple.

7 Easy Steps to Composting

Composting is probably the easiest thing that most people have never done. But once you start filling up a compost bin, you'll discover how simple it is to compost, and how many benefits it has. Here's how to start composting now

1. Choose a Place

First, you'll need to find a spot where you can start your compost pile or place your compost bin. Ideally, it will be a patch of dirt or grass near a water faucet or hose, close to a doorway to minimize the steps you'll take when emptying out your kitchen waste, and in a spot that's somewhat shady. You can also try an indoor option if you're just getting started or are limited on outdoor space.

2. Pick a Compost Bin - Or Not

There are some advantages to using a compost bin instead of just keeping a big pile of compost waste in your yard. A compost bin looks a lot more tidy, especially in suburban or urban areas, where looks count more than they do down on the farm. Also, you'll get faster results inside a compost bin, where warmth and moisture can be contained and controlled. And if you get a tumbling compost bin, you'll find that it's easier to turn your compost mixture -- especially if you get a lot of compost -- than using a pitchfork or spade in a compost pile.

The best compost bins have a way to capture compost tea, the dark, nutrient-rich liquid that's formed inside a compost pile. But if you want to make a simple, cheap start, just cut some holes in the sides and bottom of a plastic garbage bin. Or you can have an open system that can be created using a multitude of methods. 

3. Get a Kitchen Compost Pail

A kitchen compost pail doesn't need to be a fancy affair—any pail or plastic container with a lid will do just fine. But there are some advantages to getting a good-quality pail: Many are rust-proof, have a lid that seals quickly and easily to keep out pests like fruit flies, and the better ones have a lid with air holes and a deodorizing filter (usually activated charcoal) to keep the scent of old fruits and vegetables inside the pail. But if you're just getting started on composting, try an old pitcher or Tupperware container.

4. Add to your Compost Pile

Once your composting spot is ready to receive some stuff, just start tossing it in. Green waste is fresher and wetter compostable matter, like fruits and vegetables, weeds, grass clippings, egg shells and coffee grounds. Brown waste is drier and includes fall leaves, small sticks, paper towels and napkins, hair and fur, cardboard and newspaper. To kickstart your compost's microbial activity, toss in a shovelful of fresh, moist dirt from your yard or garden. If it looks or sounds a little too dry and crisp in your compost pile, add some water and/or more wet green waste. If it seems a little too wet and sloppy, add more dry brown waste.

5. Turning Compost

If you are using an open or closed method for compost be sure to every couple of weeks, use a shovel or pitchfork (or just turn for closed methods) to dig in and turn your compost pile. This helps to aerate the whole mix -- key to keeping it fresh-smelling -- and stimulates the soil microbes that are actively making your compost such excellent fertilizer. It also churns your newer waste on top down into the middle of the compost pile where microbial activity is the most robust. 

6. Do Nothing

This can be the hardest part: Do nothing to your compost. Just keep dropping in waste, which will gradually settle as the compost becomes more compact. There should be some microbial activity happening inside your damp compost pile, making things warm and nutrient-rich.

7. Keep It Simple

The six steps above should really do it all, but some people -- especially eager newcomers -- feel compelled to spend a small fortune on fancy compost bins, compost thermometers, expensive pitchforks, and other paraphernalia. They also fall victim to loving their compost to death -- turning it too often, overwatering it or some other frenzy. Compost takes time and quiet to develop, so just let it be. Then, when you're ready to use your compost to fertilize your garden or yard, your compost will be ready for you. Depending on what method you choose it can take a year or longer to get to good, useable compost material.