If you’re like me, you take your gardening seriously and do what’s right for the environment then you know how important composting is. Not only does composting help improve the quality of your soil, but it also helps reduce waste and create a sustainable environment. If you’re new to composting, don’t worry! I’ll teach you everything you need to know about how to get started with composting in your garden.

Be Nature Kind – Compost!

It’s a crime against good gardening and the environment to burn leaves and grass (unless they are diseased or polluted) because every scrap of organic vegetable matter should be converted to compost – and compost can be the most valuable natural resource in your garden.

Composting properly is an important gardening skill because it helps recycle nutrients back into the soil. It’s a natural process that happens when organic matter decomposes. leaves, grass clippings, and vegetable scraps are all examples of organic matter that can be composted.

The Three Components of Composting

There are three main components to successful composting: carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Carbon comes from things like dead leaves and branches, while nitrogen comes from things like grass clippings and vegetable scraps. Oxygen is necessary for the decomposition process to happen.

The ideal ratio of carbon to nitrogen is 30:1. This means that for every 30 parts carbon, you need 1 part nitrogen. Too much carbon will make your compost dry and crumbly, while too much nitrogen will make it wet and smelly.

The Right Environment for Composting

Successful composting also requires the right environment. Your compost pile should be in a location that gets plenty of sunlight and has good drainage. If your compost pile is too wet, you can add more carbon materials to absorb the excess moisture. If your compost pile is too dry, you can add water to moisten it.

Your compost pile should also have some airspace so that oxygen can circulate. You can achieve this by adding straw or other light materials to your pile. Stirring your pile regularly will also help aerate it.

what is compost?

If we could secure unlimited quantities of animal manure, our need for compost would not be so acute; but in the absence of manure, compost is the one thing which can restore humus to your soil, and give you success in your gardening.

In some respects, compost, when properly made, is even superior to animal manure. It contains almost every element which growing things need; and it restores to the soil much of the material extracted by the roots of crops.

The essence of compost is to store waste vegetable matter in such conditions that it will rot down quickly – and “vegetable matter” includes leaves, weeds, lawn. cuttings, kitchen vegetable tops and scraps – skins and leaves, spent flowers, pulled-up plants, tea leaves, and every other scrap of soft stuff from your garden – don’t include hard-wooded pruning cuttings, and such-like; they take far too long to rot, and they’ll only become a nuisance.

How to Compost

There are many ways to compost, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.

For traditional composting in larger gardens, use either a ‘pit‘ or a ‘heap‘ – the heap is less work. Make the first layer about 40 cm deep (it will rot more quickly if you chop it up with a spade), and sprinkle it with a handful of lime or wood ash and a dusting of complete fertilizer.

If you can’t keep a compost heap because your garden is small or because of animals that may get into it try burying the scraps in a ‘pit’ will solve the problem. Dig a deep hole (a trench is better) in the garden, dump in your collection of kitchen scraps every few days, then cover with dirt. It’s amazing how quickly it will break down, attract worms, and change the soil composition for the better.

compost bin vs. compost tumbler

A common method is to use a compost bin, which can be made from a variety of materials such as wood, plastic, or metal. compost bins are typically simple to set up and require little maintenance. However, they can attract pests, and the compost may take longer to break down and they may require more effort to turn the compost regularly. Popular options for small gardens are large black plastic bins. These can be easily tucked away, make sure you select a bin with a secure lid as they can easily blow away in strong wind. I’ve previously purchased round black plastic bins with rodent excluders but found rats eventually chewed through these. I would suggest plastic bins are perfect for garden waste (lawn clippings etc.) and compost tumblers (see below) for kitchen waste.

Another option is to use a compost tumbler. Compost tumblers are enclosed on stands above ground level, so they keep out pests and help the compost break down more quickly. However, they can be more expensive than compost bins, and can become quite heavy to turn when full or wet. When choosing a tumbler pick one with dual sections so when one side if full it can fully break down without new waste being added.

Ultimately, the best method for composting will depend on the size of your garden, your individual needs and preferences.

It does take a bit of time to get a new compost pile started – mine took about 3 months to really start breaking down.

For my first garden I had two large black plastic bins on rotation. The second house, a rental, I have a twin-bin tumbler. I added ‘compost starter’ aka juice from my worm farm, which is a compound of the natural microbes that exist in good healthy compost. That simply helped kickstart everything and it began breaking down well in about a month.

Compost Heaps: Cover & Water Your Compost

Give your compost heap a thin coating of earth; and then add a second layer in the same way. Each successive layer is sprinkled with lime and fertilizer, and then topped with earth. Dampen (don’t soak) it, and keep it moist; add any fresh animal or poultry manure which you have, and turn it over each month. In three months (a little longer in winter) you’ll have a soft, friable, chocolate mass, with some of the plant fiber still showing through it – and that’s compost. It will work miracles in any soil.

As your heap gains size and bulk, it will generate, within itself, terrific heat; and if the heat disappears before decomposition is almost complete, it probably will mean too much – or too little water. If that happens, turn it all over, dust it again with lime and fertiliser; and fork it all through again. If dryness is the trouble, moisten it and keep it moist.

If the heap is “working” well, it will look after any casual grass seed which finds it way into it; but draw the line at onion grass and oxalis — the garbage bin or the incinerator are the only safe places for that rubbish. You can purchase special compost thermometers if you’re serious about your heap or are adding in weed seeds.

Composting ‘Greens’ and ‘Browns’ at Home

Have a good mix of ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ making up your compost and try layering like lasagna. A layer of brown material like leaves or shredded paper and a layer of green material like kitchen scraps or grass clippings. Specific items as to what is considered browns and what’s considered greens. Leaves can go both ways. If they are green/more alive then they can go to greens. If they are dry and brown and crumbly they go as browns. You just keep layering one then the other. Fresh cut grass would be greens. Wood chips are browns. Straw is considered browns, twigs are considered browns (but take longer to break down) food even tea grounds and coffee grounds are considered green.

A Composting Warning

Never: throw into the compost any invasive weeds, or diseased plants suffering from rust, wilt, or leaf spot. All forms of root rot (and that includes nematodes) also should be burned. If you put stuff like that into your compost, you’re only storing trouble for next season.

A note on Camphor Laurel Leaves

These leaves are harmful to the soil if they are dug in green and fresh; but used, or put into the compost heap, they are harmless – although not much good. They are the one leaf which perhaps better recycled or used as mulch.

Avoid adding pine needles as they take a very long time to break down and can make your soil more acid than ideal.

What to Compost

Food scraps make up 20 to 30 percent of what we throw away compost them instead.

Good Composting Tips

• Coffee grounds, eggshells, banana peels is a super potent nitrogen compost mix
• No meat, poultry, or fish or greasy items in compost. Mainly food that can be grown from the ground
• Be sure there aren’t any chemicals used on the lawn before you add to compost, they have a long life and will end up in your food!
• If you have back problems buy a rotating compost bin so you don’t have to fork turn your pile
• Garden lime can help mask the smell of things rotting and breaks down organic matter faster
• Keep a compost caddy in your kitchen to take out to your pile – you’ll be surprised how much good stuff you were throwing away
• Home composting doesn’t get hot enough to kill weed seeds, so avoid adding them to your heap

Remember, the key ingredients to successful composting are carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. If you maintain the correct ratio of these ingredients and create an environment that is moist but well-aerated, you’ll be well on your way to creating nutrient-rich compost for your garden!

You’d also probably love to read:

• Wonderful world of worm farms
• The super easy science of great soil
• Brilliant uses of wood ash in the garden
• Super poop!