Composting for Dummies?

Question

I'm interested in creating a compost pile in my yard. I've done some research online and it seems a little intimadating. Can someone tell me how to start, or if there is reading material an average person can understand. Also, which bin do you recommend I buy? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

I can share my experience.  I dont have a yard, I live in a an apartment with an open large terrace on which I have a lot of potted plants.  I bought a very large used chemical drum made of tough plastic (1cm thick), drilled holes in the base and sides, filled the bottom with broken bricks and rubble, next layer sugarcane bagasse / pineapple bagasse { or any fruit waste available from fruit juice vendors who will be glad to get rid of it for free }; next layer mud and cowdung mix, a layer of coco peat, more mud and some live earthworms.  If you live in a country where you cannot get cowdung or coco peat, just use plain mud.  It doesnt really matter.  Now, to this bin I add all my wet waste everyday like vegetable / fruit peels, skin, that sort of stuff.  You can also add eggshells and meat waste if you eat those foods - basically anything organic.  Cover the bin but let it be damp.  Add also all your dry leaves unless you use them to mulch; pruned cuttings etc.  After about a month your compost is ready, its a continuous process as wet waste is added everyday, the worms are happy, well fed, reproduce and aerate the compost mix.  The sugar cane / fruit waste expedites the composting process.  It works well in the tropics where I live.  If you live in a cold place, I suppose the worms may not survive, but the system would still work but slower.  If you are fortunate to have a garden, you could dig a pit instead of using a bin, and fill the pit as described.   Ive been using this system for the last 3 years, there is no smell even though we have high temperatures and humidity, and I do not use any chemical fertilisers or anything other than my worm mix and coco peat.  My plants are not complaining !  And my house doesnt generate wet waste.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I use the Earth Machine

Try contacting your local govt. sometimes they have back yard composting classes I know we do he in Beaver County Pa.

Answer 3

You want a pile or bin 4' on a side, give or take one foot in each dimension. Mix about 1/3 high nitrogen material (grass, manure, blood, urine) with 1/3 high carbon material (leaves, sawdust, wood chips) for best results. Keep the pile moist but not wet. Any of these "rules" can be broken except that if you overload with high-nitrogen material, you have to turn the pile frequently to avoid smells. Never add oils, meat, or dairy products. The smaller the pieces you add, the faster the material will compost.

If you can get wooden pallets and stand them on end with rebar anchoring them in place, you will have as good a bin as you can buy.

Seattle Tilth put out a good booklet on composting. I cribbed heavily from that for the booklet I wrote for my township.

Answer 4

If you have a yard that is big enough you don't need a bin.

I use cinder blocks, three high and 3'x4', the only time it gets to the third cinder block is during spring but now it's at the first one. The best way to understand it is to do it, s***w up and learn!

If someone always tells you the pitfalls you will never do anything!

My first pile had maggots crawling out it the first week!

The best advice I can pass on is, don't listen to layer methodology, who has the time to separate their yard refuse into the "brown" and "green," nitrogen and carbon.

I have found that as long as you cover the food scraps you put into the pile with at least a few inches and you scatter the yard refuse around, your good..

Usually my coverage material is the compost that is in the bin that is almost composted.

Have fun with it, don't complicate it.

Answer 5

I have two composts going. The first is passive. Which means I pile up my branches and yard waste in a corner of my yard (we keep some wild). It just very slowly disappears. The second is a compost bin, you can purchase them at any hardware store, for the wetter stuff. I'm not thrilled with it, we inherited it.

I am about to embark on worm composting - it is a project I'm working on for preschool. That comes highly recommended.

Overall, composting is a very natural process, its hard to mess it up. You'll get better at it with practice. Good luck!

Answer 6

I had my own compost pile until the city talked to me about compost. the city now brings leaves they collect in the fall. a lot of people in the city bring grass clippings in the summer.

I keep it damp and the city turns and mixes the pile about once a week. this can be done on a small scale as well. look on the Internet for composters and you will find some that are round, on a stand, and have a hand crank to turn. just put in leaves and grass, water, and turn every day or two. It will take only a couple of weeks to make compost. DO leave any meat scraps out