Composting is almost too easy. It's certainly not difficult.
Entire books have been written on the subject. In fact I have one around here somewhere that I'd like to dig out and reread. It's entitled Let It Rot and it's published by Rodale, Inc., the company behind Organic Gardening magazine, which is now Organic Life. It was sometime in 1979 when I bought my copy and I have composted ever since. I've always found that title, Let It Rot, ironic since a section in the book warns not to let your compost rot, but it does get your attention.
Some people do think that rotting is what composting does, but it's a little more complicated than that. If you load all of your kitchen scraps into a barrel and leave them, they will generate armies of anaerobic bacteria, which will create a liquidy, gassy, slimy, stinky mess. This is rot.
If you give your kitchen scraps access to oxygen and maybe some dry materials like shredded paper and cardboard or leaves, they will attract aerobic bacteria and other decomposers, which will produce a mild smelling soil-like mass. The best way to provide oxygen is to turn the compost frequently. A compost turned more frequently will generate more heat and break down more quickly. A passive pile, stacked up with air around it, will break down more slowly in a not-so-obnoxious combination of aerobic and anaerobic process. I call this "lazy man's compost." It's how I do it when I'm not in a hurry.
As one advantage, compost takes a significant amount of material out of the waste stream and reduces the release of carbon into the atmosphere. And as a bonus, finished compost is about the most wonderful stuff a gardener could ever ask for.
For my compost, I keep a gallon ice cream bucket with a lid outside the backdoor. Into this I put all of our coffee grounds and filters, vegetable peels and trimmings, egg shells and any spoiled fruits and vegetables (note: compost buckets do stink and need to be washed fairly often). I also add toilet paper rolls, used paper towels and empty paper towel rolls to my compost. My cardinal rule has always been "no meat, bones and absolutely nothing that has been cooked." Meat and bones require some special composting process that I don't really care about, otherwise they attract all kinds of vermin and produce gag me smells. Cooked foods, even left over veggies, will attract dogs, mice and raccoons and they will scatter precious compost all over the place.
I have recently relaxed the cooked foods rule a bit. Something I read suggested using the water from steaming vegetables, boiling pasta and even leftover coffee and tea to water plants. This reuses water that would otherwise be wasted and makes use of nutrients that would end up in the septic system. Rather than keep a second bucket on the back porch for cooking water, I add it to my regular compost bucket and use it to moisten my compost pile. In this heat, it needs a fair amount of liquid to keep it moist. I know I didn't mention keeping the pile damp before, but I'm not trying to be an expert here, merely a cheerleader. Rah! Go compost!
Seriously, every gardener can benefit from composting. Worm beds are great too, but I'm not doing that yet. Below are photos of my set up and proof of results.
Entire books have been written on the subject. In fact I have one around here somewhere that I'd like to dig out and reread. It's entitled Let It Rot and it's published by Rodale, Inc., the company behind Organic Gardening magazine, which is now Organic Life. It was sometime in 1979 when I bought my copy and I have composted ever since. I've always found that title, Let It Rot, ironic since a section in the book warns not to let your compost rot, but it does get your attention.
Some people do think that rotting is what composting does, but it's a little more complicated than that. If you load all of your kitchen scraps into a barrel and leave them, they will generate armies of anaerobic bacteria, which will create a liquidy, gassy, slimy, stinky mess. This is rot.
If you give your kitchen scraps access to oxygen and maybe some dry materials like shredded paper and cardboard or leaves, they will attract aerobic bacteria and other decomposers, which will produce a mild smelling soil-like mass. The best way to provide oxygen is to turn the compost frequently. A compost turned more frequently will generate more heat and break down more quickly. A passive pile, stacked up with air around it, will break down more slowly in a not-so-obnoxious combination of aerobic and anaerobic process. I call this "lazy man's compost." It's how I do it when I'm not in a hurry.
As one advantage, compost takes a significant amount of material out of the waste stream and reduces the release of carbon into the atmosphere. And as a bonus, finished compost is about the most wonderful stuff a gardener could ever ask for.
For my compost, I keep a gallon ice cream bucket with a lid outside the backdoor. Into this I put all of our coffee grounds and filters, vegetable peels and trimmings, egg shells and any spoiled fruits and vegetables (note: compost buckets do stink and need to be washed fairly often). I also add toilet paper rolls, used paper towels and empty paper towel rolls to my compost. My cardinal rule has always been "no meat, bones and absolutely nothing that has been cooked." Meat and bones require some special composting process that I don't really care about, otherwise they attract all kinds of vermin and produce gag me smells. Cooked foods, even left over veggies, will attract dogs, mice and raccoons and they will scatter precious compost all over the place.
I have recently relaxed the cooked foods rule a bit. Something I read suggested using the water from steaming vegetables, boiling pasta and even leftover coffee and tea to water plants. This reuses water that would otherwise be wasted and makes use of nutrients that would end up in the septic system. Rather than keep a second bucket on the back porch for cooking water, I add it to my regular compost bucket and use it to moisten my compost pile. In this heat, it needs a fair amount of liquid to keep it moist. I know I didn't mention keeping the pile damp before, but I'm not trying to be an expert here, merely a cheerleader. Rah! Go compost!
Seriously, every gardener can benefit from composting. Worm beds are great too, but I'm not doing that yet. Below are photos of my set up and proof of results.
My two bin compost isn't pretty, but it is well hidden from the world.
A wheelbarrow load of finished compost ready for use.
This okra was planted in April directly into the unimproved soil.
This okra was planted in June into soil with two inches of compost added.
There are any number of good sources of information available on composting. A quick Google search will yield links to Old Farmers Almanac, Mother Earth News, Common Sense Homesteading and a host of others. There are some nice composters on the market, including a number of tumblers. Tumblers are great, in theory, but hardly necessary. I've used recycled fencing and I've used old wooden pallets. When I wasn't sure where I wanted to permanently locate my compost I used four large black trash cans. Every week I would transfer the material in one can into another in order to turn and aerate it. This made for nice hot compost, which means fast compost. Unfortunately, a 32 gallon can full of damp compost is very heavy. When I said transfer, I meant using a shovel or pitchfork to move scoops of waste from one can into the other. Picking a full one up and dumping it into an empty one would be nice, but is pretty much out of the question. A permanent or semi-permanent pile is best and three bins is ideal.
Rah!
Stephen
Comments
Post a Comment