Unless you have been living under a rock you know that compost is one of those things that is essential for a healthy garden. What you may not know is how to make your own. Making your own compost is not only a great way to save money, but it is very rewarding in the fact that you are reusing the waste of your kitchen and yard to make something that is able give sustenance, while at the same time preventing useful materials from entering our landfills.
BENEFITS OF ORGANIC COMPOST:
- Saves the environment by reusing waste materials instead of filling the landfills with them
- Saves you money by not having to spend money on commercial products
- Adds volume to the soil making it easier for roots to move through the soil
- Enhances soil texture
- Aerates the soil
- Improves drainage to the soil so that it does not become water logged and cause root rot in plants
- Holds correct water levels in the soil so that plants have just enough water to flourish
- Adds nutrients- not only does compost provide both nitrogen and carbon to your soil it adds countless beneficial microbes( good germs) that help to fight off bad microbes
- May contain antifungal properties
- Great for indoor gardens where soil nutrients are constantly being pulled from the soil by hot grow lights and plants trying to use up as much of the soil as possible. Compost will help keep the nutrients in the soil as well as make the plants root system stronger.
TERMS PERTAINING TO COMPOSTING:
GREEN MATTER- Nitrogen based matter such as vegetables, grass clipping, garden clippings, fruits, alfalfa pellets etc…
BROWN MATTER- Carbon based matter such as twigs, dead leaves, bark, pinecones, etc…
COMPOSTING THERMOMETER- This is a large thermometer that you stick into the center of the compost heap to see what kind of microbial activity is going on. This tool is the primary means for which you know when it is time to “turn” the pile.
COMPOST PILE- This is an area where you keep the compost. This can consist of just the pile or it can be made up of a three box system with removable front slats or doors to allow easy transportation of the pile.
1RST TURN- Pertains to fast composting and is the first time that you will turn the compost to aid in microbial activity.
2ND TURN- Also pertains to fast composting and is the second time that the compost gets turned for microbial activity.
PITCH FORK- A common farm or garden tool with long tines or forks that is used to easily transport the compost in its early stages.
DECOMPOSITION- The natural process in which organisms break down matter
There are two basic ways that you can create compost, there is the slow method and then there is the fast method. Both of these methods require that you pile up green matter and brown matter together and allow them to sit for a period of time. The main difference between the two methods is how you go about tending to the pile.
THE SLOW METHOD:
This is the easier method of the two as all that you really do is get your pile together and let it sit for a while. This is a great method if you are not looking for fast results and have a large area out of the way that you can just keep piling up the new materials on top of the old.
THINGS THAT YOU WILL NEED:
- Pitch fork or some other type of tool such as a hard rake that will allow you to pile and mix all of your composting materials.
- Area to store your compost pile, ideal areas are out of the way and that get good amounts of sunlight, air flow and rain.
- Time, this process can take up to a year; you should not use this process if you are looking for fast results.
HOW TO MAKE COMPOST USING THE SLOW METHOD:
- GATHERING THE PILE- for use in the slow method you will want to make sure that there is more brown matter than there is green matter as it will take more time for the pile to decompose
- MENDING THE PILE- all that is required after you get you pile together is to mix it together fairly well and give it a good sprinkling of water.
- NOW WHAT- that’s really about it, all that is required now is time; you can if you want turn the pile once in a while to help speed things up. This method usually produces good crumbly compost in eight months to a year. You will want to gather your completed compost from the bottom of the pile using either a shovel or the pitch form to dig a small tunnel into the middle of the pile to pull out the best compost. To further help the process, pile the matter that you had to remove from the bottom of the pile onto of the pile to help the decompression rate.
THE FAST METHOD:
This is a great method of composting for those who are looking to get results at a much faster rate. All that we are doing different in this method is basically accelerating the rate at which the decomposition process happens.
THINGS THAT YOU WILL NEED:
- Pitch fork to move compost pile from one bin to another and to turn the pile
- A three bin or area setup. An easy one to setup is with chicken wire and wood stakes. So three 3’x12’ small rolls of chicken wire, twelve 4’ tall wood stakes, hammer, staples or nails and a tape measure.
- Green and brown matter equal parts
- Water bucket with water
- Lawn mower or mulcher
HOW TO MAKE COMPOST USING THE FAST METHOD:
- MAKING YOUR THREE COMPARTMENT BIN- The first thing that you will want to do is measure and drive with the hammer the wood stakes six inches in the ground so that they make a square with the stakes being three feet apart from each other.
- Make three of these so that you have three separate boxes. You will want to have them close together so that you will be able to move the compost with relative ease. Next begin the chicken wire on the bottom right stake. Tack the top of the chicken wire to the top of the steak by either bent over nails or wood staples. Either way make sure to put about 4 nails/staples in the stake including one at the top, one at the bottom and two spaced out in the middle. Continue this process around the all four stakes but do not tack down the wire to the last stake just make it so that it attaches but can be taken off like a door. You now have a three compartment compost bin.
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- GATHERING THE PILE- This is similar to the slow method in that you are using both green and brown matter but it differs in the fact that you will gather all of the matter at once into on big pile and that you should try to have equal parts brown and green matter. Once you have gathered all of the matter together chop them up as small as you can by either the means of a lawn mower or mulcher and put it into the first compartment of your compost bin and mix it thoroughly adding in the bucket of water if the pile is not already moist.
- THE DIFFERENCE- Give your compost a couple of days to heat up and use your compost thermometer to take a temperature reading. Record this reading, as you will use it later. Come back in about a week and see what the temperature is, if it has gone up leave the pile alone. If the temperature has gone down give the pile a good turn by bringing all of the matter on the bottom of the pile to the top and the entire top to the bottom. Give it a week and give it a temperature reading again. Once the temperature reading has gone down again move it to the second compartment of your compost bin, and insert a new batch into the first compartment. Take the temperature of your compost in the second compartment again and wait for it to fall, turn again wait for it to cool and then transplant into the final bin where it will stay until it is done composting. In the final bin the addition of red wrigglers (worms) can be very beneficial as they love compost and will help tremendously in the decomposition of your compost pile. ( warning, be sure that the temperature has fallen to the low hundreds before introducing the earth worms as high compost pile temps can easily kill them.
- The total time for this fast method of composting should be in the seven to ten weeks range.
COMPOSTING TIPS:
- DO NOT use meats of any kind in your compost pile as they will spread harmful bacteria or pathogens that can both harm you and your garden.
- DO NOT use dog or cat feces as it as well contains harmful microbes that can poison the whole pile and YOU.
- DO NOT USE diseased plants as you will only spread the disease to the rest of your garden when you introduce the compost to your soil.
- If you have large pieces of wood such as stumps or large limbs or logs put them into their own separate pile as they will hinder the compost from breaking down as fast.
