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Why You Should Consider Composting
Food scraps and yard debris make up about 25% of our garbage and
it can take years for these materials to decompose in the landfill, wasting a valuable resource.
Composting is a natural, biological process that utilizes micro-organisms, worms, and insects to decompose organic matter into a nutrient rich soil-like material.
What You Can Compost
Fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, teas bags, bread , grass clippings, leaves, flowers and old plants, twigs, old potting soil, and dryer lint.
What You Should Not Compost
Diseased plants, weeds with seeds, invasive weeds like morning glory and quack grass, meat, fish, and dairy products, and grease, cooking oil or oily foods.
How Composted Material Can Be Used
- Holds nutrients in soil until plants can use them (healthy plants are more resistant to pests)
- Loosens and aerates clay soils
- Retains water in sandy soils
- Mix into vegetable and flower gardens each year before planting
- Use as a mulch around flowers, vegetables, shrubs, and trees
- Make your own potting soil with one part compost to two parts potting soil
How to Compost
Purchase a compost bin through your local garden supply store.
How to Use the Compost Bin
- Place bin in a shady location if possible.
- Fork the ground underneath the bin so the earthworms and soil organisms can begin their work.
- If pile dries out, add more water. If they become soggy, add dry ingredients.
- Spread a thin layer of dry leaves or soil very so often to control odors and ensure an adequate bacteria supply.
- Wait about six months to check for compost by lifting up the container . Your compost is ready when it is a dark brown or black color and is crumbly.
Other Ways to Compost
- Dig a hole about 8" deep and bury composting materials - chop with a shovel before covering.
- Grass clippings can be left on the lawn or used as a mulch around plants.
- Leaves work well as a mulch.
Start a Worm Bin
- Find or build a shallow container (about l6-l8 inches deep), wooden boxes,
plastic storage containers work well.
- Drill drainage holes
- Fill your worm bin with moist bedding - brown leaves, shredded paper or cardboard, straw or peat moss work well.
- Add a handful of dirt.
- Add about one pound of-red wriggler composting worms (will consume about 1/2 pound of food a day)- check in friend's compost pile or call a worm supplier
- Rotate the burial location of food scraps throughout the bin.
- Every 3 to 6 months push the old bedding and decomposing scraps to one side of the bin, rebed the empty side and start burying food waste in the fresh bedding
- After allowing the older scraps to finish for another month or so, remove the compost and add more fresh bedding
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my composter attract flies?
Not if you dig your food scraps into the compost or cover any food scraps or green stuff with a layer of soil or brown stuff, such as leaves, old plants, or straw.
Will my composter attract animals or rodents?
To prevent the attraction of animals, do not add meat products, dairy products, fat or fish to your composter. Again, cover food scraps with soil or brown stuff. Lay a sheet of hardware cloth or rabbit cage wire on the ground beneath your composter to keep rodents out.
Why does my composter smell like ammonia?
You have too much green stuff. Add more brown stuff.
Why does my composter smell rotten?
There is too much moisture in the composter. Turn the pile and add porous materials such as leaves or sawdust.
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