COMPOSTING FOR BEGINNERS

Composting for Beginners – Compost is a natural nutrient-rich soil that anyone, even beginners, can make. 

Compost can be made from your kitchen leftovers, grass clippings, dead leaves, branches, wood chips, water, and oxygen.

It can be made in any container or even a pile designated as your compost pile.

There are a few things every compost beginner needs to know and do to ensure you have your recycled and valuable mineral laden soil for your garden.

COMPOSTING FOR BEGINNERS

YOU NEED TO KNOW THE MIXTURE

The mixture of compost is green material (kitchen leftovers like fruits and vegetable remnants or peels, and grass clippings), brown material (leaves, branches, tea bags, dryer lint, etc.), water and oxygen.

You can start your compost by layering the materials or just mix them all together. You will need more brown material than green.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO ROTATE OR MIX THE COMPOST EVERY FEW DAYS

Rotating it is a very important component of composting because it ensures that oxygen is introduced to all areas of your compost.

The bacterium that primarily breaks down the compost is aerobic, meaning it needs oxygen. Rotating your compost will help accelerate the breakdown process.

CHOOSE A CONTAINER OR AREA THAT IS EASY FOR YOU TO ACCES

It is important for you to access your compost container or pile because you need to make sure it is moist enough.

It needs to be moist but not overly wet if it is too dry pour some water and green materials to moisten it. If it is too wet add some brown materials and mix or rotate it.

I prefer a compost pile outside, but during the cold winter months, I do not feel like running outside every time I have something to compost.

Getting an indoor compost bin with a lid is a great alternative – this way you only need to venture outside once the bin is full!  With bio-degradable compost bags, you can use an existing container you already have.

Composting is a great way to recycle materials while giving you the benefit of free, usable, nutrient-rich material for your garden.

It doesn’t require a lot and is a natural process that occurs when organic material decays and is amazing to help your plants and flowers grow.

These books on composting have even more helpful tips:

Let it Rot! The Gardener’s Guide to Composting

Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting

You may also like this COMPOST THIS, NOT THAT post that gives you a list of things to compost and those to avoid:

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