Every gardener knows how valuable compost is in the garden. Many have found that not all compost is created equal. There are a few rules you need to remember in order to create the best compost possible. You need airflow and you need moisture. You need carbon and nitrogen sources, at about a 25:1 ratio, for your micro organisms to consume. Turning the pile gets everything more uniform. There is the lazy way too, just pile it up and leave it alone. That's the longest and most wasteful way but it works.
The first way to compost is to build a heap. You add your kitchen scraps and other nitrogen materials and then add some carbon based materials. You want the pile to stay moist but not be too packed where anaerobic conditions are causing foul odors and disease. It takes time, and believe me it is not as easy as it sounds. I am still working on it for about 2 1/2 years now. I am beginning to see the light but it takes time and vigilance to prepare a healthy and nutritious compost to feed your garden well. The pile will take a long time if you don't have all the ingredients to build a large enough pile. Small piles don't heat up as well as a larger pile does. If you get too large you create anaerobic conditions. Another long time to learn lesson. When the pile has been hot, around 140 degrees Fahrenheit, for a week or so you can turn it. You will be placing what is now the outer layer into the center of the new heap. Make sure everything is staying moist, bacteria need it to stay active. After a few weeks of turning and heating you can let the compost rest for a month and turn it one last time and it should be ready to use in about three months.
The second DIY compost idea is the pallet bin. You take three pallets and tie them together to form 3 sides of a box. You then add another 2 with the fronts missing off both bins. and a third or fourth if you really want to get fancy. This method is a little slower but it still produces high quality compost. The ingredients are the same in the same order, it the cooking that varies on this one. You can layer in your nitrogen and carbon ingredients or just toss it all in there. The more you can break up the ingredients into smaller pieces the better. Then, you turn the pile as you start a new one. |Transfer the contents of the first bin to the second and start the new one. You can continue this as many times as you'd like, however it's not necessary to make all the bins as large as the first two or three. The pile shrinks as it is consumed by the microbes.
The third idea for composting is the tumbler. You put all of your scraps out into the tumbler and let it rot, turning every so often. The downfall on this system is that it is a small chamber, doesn't have anywhere to store next batch of compost while current one is finishing up, and they are expensive. I guess those statements are just my opinion and not everyone agrees but that is how I feel about them. All the other parts are the same, keep the pile moist and balanced.
Those are my three easy DIY compost ideas. There are plenty more out there and they almost all work. The quality lies in the small details. Pay attention to your work and create something great since you will be consuming the product of your labor in the form of nutritious veggies and fruits. Make sure not to rush the process. Don't overdo any one ingredient, keep everything as balanced as possible and the results will speak for themselves.
The first way to compost is to build a heap. You add your kitchen scraps and other nitrogen materials and then add some carbon based materials. You want the pile to stay moist but not be too packed where anaerobic conditions are causing foul odors and disease. It takes time, and believe me it is not as easy as it sounds. I am still working on it for about 2 1/2 years now. I am beginning to see the light but it takes time and vigilance to prepare a healthy and nutritious compost to feed your garden well. The pile will take a long time if you don't have all the ingredients to build a large enough pile. Small piles don't heat up as well as a larger pile does. If you get too large you create anaerobic conditions. Another long time to learn lesson. When the pile has been hot, around 140 degrees Fahrenheit, for a week or so you can turn it. You will be placing what is now the outer layer into the center of the new heap. Make sure everything is staying moist, bacteria need it to stay active. After a few weeks of turning and heating you can let the compost rest for a month and turn it one last time and it should be ready to use in about three months.
The second DIY compost idea is the pallet bin. You take three pallets and tie them together to form 3 sides of a box. You then add another 2 with the fronts missing off both bins. and a third or fourth if you really want to get fancy. This method is a little slower but it still produces high quality compost. The ingredients are the same in the same order, it the cooking that varies on this one. You can layer in your nitrogen and carbon ingredients or just toss it all in there. The more you can break up the ingredients into smaller pieces the better. Then, you turn the pile as you start a new one. |Transfer the contents of the first bin to the second and start the new one. You can continue this as many times as you'd like, however it's not necessary to make all the bins as large as the first two or three. The pile shrinks as it is consumed by the microbes.
The third idea for composting is the tumbler. You put all of your scraps out into the tumbler and let it rot, turning every so often. The downfall on this system is that it is a small chamber, doesn't have anywhere to store next batch of compost while current one is finishing up, and they are expensive. I guess those statements are just my opinion and not everyone agrees but that is how I feel about them. All the other parts are the same, keep the pile moist and balanced.
Those are my three easy DIY compost ideas. There are plenty more out there and they almost all work. The quality lies in the small details. Pay attention to your work and create something great since you will be consuming the product of your labor in the form of nutritious veggies and fruits. Make sure not to rush the process. Don't overdo any one ingredient, keep everything as balanced as possible and the results will speak for themselves.
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