Composting

When folks first think of composting, they naturally assume you need a large backyard or garden. While composting certainly got its start in large backyards and gardens, you can compost nowadays literally anywhere. Before we break down everything you need to know about how this environmentally sustainable practice will revolutionize your fertilizing, let’s cover the basics first. Composting is the act of breaking down waste and turning it into fertilizer. The waste is decayed, organic matter. This is typically in the form of greens or browns. Greens are things like grass clippings, fruit, coffee grounds or vegetable waste. Browns are dead leaves, twigs, and branches for the most part. But, you could also mix in anything plant related that is brown as well. And lastly, a compost mixture is not complete without water. This is critical because the browns and greens will not be able to properly mix and decompose without water. Most composters keep three bins in their home. There’s the brown bin, the green bin, and then the bin where they mix ingredients of both with water. The mixture is not an equal amount of greens to browns. Rather, it is a ratio of 1:2 (greens to browns). Greens are the nitrogen of the mixture, and browns are the carbon. In the mixture bin, you’re going to want to follow the “layering” process. Here you’ll place gravel on the bottom (to help in the draining process), and then layer brown matter. Next comes the green matter, and after that, the water. You don’t want to turn the entire concoction into a mini-pool. If it’s too soggy then decomposition won’t occur. Rather, you want a damp mixture, and once this occurs you’ll need to turn the organic material and mix it up. In general, a compost pile takes roughly two months to reach what is known as a “planting state.” This isn’t a fast process, but once you hit your composting stride, when one batch is ready you can start on a second and you’ll always have fertilizer at the ready to call on. You know you’re compost is ready once the pile begins to emanate an “earthy aroma.” Some claim this is so pleasant that you won’t want to actually use it! We can’t attest to the same, but hard-core composters live and die with this so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. As mentioned earlier, you can compost these days anywhere. The Greenes Fence Cedar Wood Composter measures 48” X 48” X 31.” You can set this up on your porch and build it out as big as you want depending on your space constraints. The MTB Garden Wire Compost Bin is made of wire, as the title suggests, and as such is more malleable than a typical wood bin. This can also be as small or large as you’d like. And lastly, no compost bin is complete without a thermometer to monitor the heat. The REOTEMP Backyard Pro Compost Thermometer is a well-reviewed product featuring a long stem to hit the center of compost piles. While compost fires are extremely rare, if you’re not careful the pile can exceed 190 degrees and this could result in a spontaneous fire. There you have it, no more excuses. Composting is good for the environment, and good for your plants. Natural fertilizer made the responsible route!