How to Make Compost the Easy Way
Making compost is like cooking a stew for your family. You need a recipe, the correct ingredients in the right amounts, the correct temperatures and time to let it all simmer. The end result will be a load of sweet smelling, rich dark brown loam that you can feed to your plants with pride.
Composting is the controlled decomposition of organic matter. If left to natural means this process can be extremely slow, but by following the recipe and using the correct equipment you can considerably speed up the process. The following ingredients are necessary:
Carbon
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Water
However some materials are not appropriate for residential composting. Most backyard systems will not reach high enough temperatures necessary to kill the pathogens and vermin present, so certain items such as meat scraps, dairy products and pet droppings are not to be used.
High carbon (brown) sources are necessary to generate heat. High nitrogen (green) sources are necessary to allow the decomposing bacteria to thrive.
Browns are high carbon materials and may include;
Dry straw, hay and grass clippings
Fallen leaves
Newspaper – shred the papers for better results
Greens are high nitrogen materials and may include:
Green plant material such as garden residue, fresh hay, grass clippings, and weeds
Manure; such as horse, cow, chicken, or mushroom. No pet droppings!
Fruit and vegetable waste
Seaweed (rinse well to remove any salt)
Coffee grounds and filters
There are some types of trees such as live oak, the southern magnolia and holly trees whose leafs are too tough and leathery for decomposition, also avoid all parts of the black walnut tree as they contain a plant poison that will survive composting. Other leafs to avoid using in your compost are poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac.
Another ingredient which is often overlooked is moisture. Water the pile just enough to keep the contents moist but not saturated. In a couple of weeks, the pile should heat up to approximately to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature many of the weed seeds and harmful organisms will be killed.
A compost bin or tumbler is ideal for the small garden. A tumbler will give you the quickest results due to the ease of aerating the compost, so figure at least 8 to 10 weeks for good compost to be ready to use. Spin the compost tumbler at least once a week. This will keep the compost aerated, in as much as it is necessary to provide oxygen to the mixture to achieve good results.
If at this point the temperature has dropped, increase the heat by adding more nitrogen in the form of greens such as grass clippings or leaves from your produce trimmings, if manure is available it will get things cooking again in a hurry. Remember, new material can always be added to the mix, although it will slow the process down.
Home composting uses different of techniques, from extreme passive (cold) composting (throw everything into a pile and leave it alone) to active (hot) which consists of monitoring the temperature and turning or rotating the pile on a regular basis.
