How To Start Composting

Home composting is a practical and sustainable solution for turning kitchen scraps and yard waste into a nutrient-rich soil amendment for your home garden. You can compost organic materials like vegetable peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, grass clippings, leaf mulch, and more. In addition to enriching your garden soil and helping your plants grow stronger and healthier, composting also positively affects the environment.

Composting your kitchen scraps and yard waste comes with numerous benefits. It’s a great way to reduce waste, improve soil health, save money, and promote environmental sustainability. Keep reading to learn how to start your own compost pile and have a positive impact on both your garden and the planet.

How To Start Composting at Home

Compost is rich in nutrients and organic matter, which improves soil structure, water retention, and plant growth. It also helps to suppress plant diseases and pests. Also, you’ll save money on fertilizer and soil amendments for your garden or lawn by making your own garden compost.

Composting your kitchen scraps and yard waste comes with numerous benefits. In addition to enriching your garden soil and helping your plants grow stronger and healthier, home composting is beneficial for the environment. Minimizing landfill waste helps to reduce the level of greenhouse gases like methane that contribute to climate change.

Soil amended with compost is more stable and holds more water than unamended soil. These factors help to prevent erosion and make your garden more drought-resistant. Furthermore, adding compost to your soil increases plants’ disease resistance thanks to the beneficial microbes in the compost. Whether you make compost at home or buy it from a plant nursery or home improvement store, it’s excellent for your garden.

Step 1: Choose a Composting Location

When choosing a location for your home compost pile, one of the key considerations is whether to place it in a sunny or shaded area. The compost pile will be hotter in a sunny location and decompose faster. It will also help reduce excess moisture. On the other hand, placing your compost pile in the shade helps retain moisture and keeps it from drying out too quickly, which is particularly beneficial in hot climates where evaporation rates are high.

Another aspect to consider is using a compost bin or an open-air pile. Compost bins offer a contained and organized system, providing better control over factors like moisture and pests. They also help retain heat and prevent your compost from scattering. Plus, many compost tumblers have a compartment to turn excess water into compost tea. Or, make a DIY compost bin with pallets. If you live in an apartment, consider a compact countertop composter.

In contrast, open-air piles provide more airflow and accommodate larger volumes of organic waste. However, maintaining moisture levels and managing potential pest issues may require more attention.

Regardless of the chosen location or method, ensuring proper drainage is crucial. It should also be easily accessible for adding materials, accessing water, and turning the pile.

Step 2: Add Organic Matter

To effectively compost, it’s essential to facilitate proper airflow by layering green and brown materials in your compost pile. Smaller pieces break down faster, so shredding or breaking up the organic matter is beneficial.

Green materials provide the necessary moisture and nutrients for composting. Examples of green materials include grass clippings, vegetable scraps, fruit peels, coffee grounds, and fresh green leaves. These materials are typically high in nitrogen, which helps the microbes break down organic matter and speeds up decomposition.

On the other hand, carbon-rich brown materials give the compost pile structure and balance. Brown materials include dry leaves, pine needles, straw, hay, shredded newspaper, cardboard, and woody prunings. These materials help aerate the pile, prevent it from becoming soggy and smelly, and provide an energy source for the composting microbes.

To layer your compost pile, start with a layer of brown materials as a base, about 4-6 inches thick. This layer acts as a foundation and promotes drainage. Then, add a 2-3 inch layer of green materials on top of the brown layer. Continue alternating green and brown layers, maintaining a rough ratio of one part green to two parts brown. Keeping the compost pile moist but not overly wet is vital, so water each layer lightly as you build it.

A​void putting these materials in your compost:

• B​ones, meat, and dairy products
• Oils and fats
• P​et waste
• Diseased or insect-infested plant material
• W​eeds with seeds
• Sawdust, ashes, or wood chips from treated wood
• P​lant material treated with pesticides or herbicides

For a more complete list of materials that can and cannot get composted, check out this guide from the NC State University Extension.

Step 3: Maintain Your Compost Pile

Turn your compost regularly, every three or four days. Actively decomposing compost should feel warm to the touch, and turning your compost once or twice per week helps to facilitate a higher temperature and faster decomposition. However, turning your compost daily may inhibit microbe formation and prevent it from heating up enough.

Airflow, moisture, and the right mix of green and brown materials are the keys to composting success. In most cases, covering your compost pile isn’t necessary and often impedes airflow. Covering your compost pile in climates with cool, rainy winters is beneficial to keep it from becoming too wet and cold.

Step 4: Let the Compost Mature

When your bin is full, or your pile is big enough, it’s time to stop adding new materials and wait for your compost to mature. Continue turning and watering it regularly.

When your compost is ready to use depends on several factors. The decomposition rate varies based on the type and size of materials, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, moisture levels, aeration, and temperature.

Generally, it takes between two and four months for a well-managed compost pile that gets watered and turned consistently to break down. The process can take as little as three or four weeks in a compost tumbler that keeps the contents hotter. If left unattended, compost can take a year or two to mature.

Ultimately, patience and monitoring the composting process are key to obtaining nutrient-rich, finished compost for your garden. When ready to use, compost should have a rich, dark color and an earthy, soil-like smell.

Step 5: Use Your Compost

Once the compost has fully broken down, mix it into your garden soil. Or, use it as a mulch layer to top-dress existing plants.

When installing a new garden bed, apply 3-4 inches of compost on top of the soil surface. If necessary, add other soil amendments like lime or plant fertilizer. Then, use a spade, garden fork, or rototiller to mix it into the top 8-12 inches of soil. If you’re filling raised beds, use a 50-50 mix of soil and compost. Additionally, it’s best to incorporate garden compost before installing new plants.

To maintain existing garden beds, top-dress your soil with a layer of compost 1/4 to 1 inch deep. It’s best to avoid tilling the soil in established beds unless it has become overly compacted to avoid disrupting the soil microbes and plants’ roots.

However, compost may not eliminate the need for supplemental fertilizer and must get used in the correct amounts. Too much compost may stunt plant growth and contribute to water pollution. If there’s too much compost or fertilizer in the soil, your plants will appear stunted, stressed, or even burned. Common symptoms of overfertilization include yellow, brown, or purple plant tissue, curled and/or crispy leaves, and wilted leaves and stems. Contact your local extension office for a soil test to find out which nutrients your garden soil needs.

Composting is an eco-friendly way to turn kitchen scraps and other biodegradable plant waste into a nutrient-rich, organic soil amendment. Soil amended with compost is more stable and can hold more water than unamended soil. When used correctly, compost improves soil quality and helps your garden grow and thrive.

Do you have any questions or recommendations for starting a compost pile at home? Please share them in the comments below! If you enjoyed this guide on how to start a compost pile, don’t hesitate to share it with your fellow gardening enthusiasts.