It might not look like much, but composting is a blessing for any concerned citizen who wants to shrink their garbage footprint while improving their garden. Some of those things are where you look back and laugh and say ‘I can’t believe I was ever doing it this way and not using this!’ Think of transforming scrap food that is thrown in the kitchen as well as garden debris into nourishing soil to feed your plants – Not forgetting that you are also reducing your impact on the environment. As it gluttons our waste, enriches our soil, and is golden as a saviour to our planet, composting is the option for you. And the best part? Guess what, ladies and gentlemen? It is easier than you could have ever imagined!

What Is Composting?

It is the process by which nature recycles substances, turning organic material into a rank growing substance. It means placing undecomposed materials such as leftovers, grass, leaves, and newspapers into a thick and black soil-humus mixture referred to as compost. You can in effect create your own “black gold”, a natural fertilizer that enhances the health of your soils and plants. In some way, this process is just like what happens in nature when leaves drop to the ground and break down into mulch, only in the compost pile you are sort of creating the same environment and accelerating the process so that usable compost is produced all the sooner.

Why should you compost? First and foremost, it minimizes the quantum of waste being dumped into landfills. Organic matter, if buried under the dumps, creates methane — a powerful stimulant of the greenhouse effect. That way you are ensuring that organic matter that could otherwise end up in a landfill is instead channelled to better use. Secondly and most importantly, compost alters the physical properties of the soil to make it better for gardening by enhancing the soil structure, water-holding capacity and total nutrient content for your garden, pots or lawn.

What Can You Compost?

When starting a composting program, one usually wonders, “What can I actually add to my compost? Oh well, not every organic matter that is decayed should go to the compost bin. Composting is a delicate affair, this information shows that you need both the goodies that are rich in nitrogen, or the ‘greens’, as well as the stuff that has a lot of carbon, the ‘browns’.

Green Materials (Nitrogen-Rich, Moist):

Green materials offer the nitrogen your compost heap requires for heating process and decomposition. Most of these materials are moist and have high nitrogen content which provides the microbes that decompose the compost.

Fruit and vegetable scraps: Cheese rinds, melon shells, and offcuts that are Ridgeley that are left over and not taken into the kitchen for preparing food.
Coffee grounds and tea leaves: These should be added directly to the compost pile coffee filters, tea bags, etc unless, of course, they contain synthetic material.
Grass clippings: Though they are easy to prepare and blend well, simply make sure you do not put too many in a single batch as they tend to collect in a ball-like form and become sticky.

Brown Materials (Carbon-Rich, Dry):

Green material gives nitrogen in it, and brown matter supplies carbon to make the balance between the two. They assist in maintaining the aeration of your compost pile as well as its framework so that all the content decomposes accordingly.

Dried leaves: Perfect for fall composting! Pick up those leaves on the ground and just toss them in your compost pile.
Shredded paper and cardboard: Newspaper without a lot of ink or even a dry paper towel when ripped into small pieces should do the trick.
Sawdust: If the wood is not treated or painted, then sawdust is a great addition, for instance, and cheese.

Materials to Avoid:

Some of the materials that are organic still have to be avoided when adding to your compost pile. Some substrates are associated with problems such as stink, bugs, or compromise in substrate quality.

Meat, dairy, and oily foods: These tend to attract pests in the process of decomposing and can actually produce strong unpleasant smells.
Chemically-treated wood: This can cause the introduction of bad chemicals in your composts hence making it unsuitable for use in gardens.
Pet waste: But it is natural and may include some pathogens that you wouldn’t wish to have in your garden.

Setting Up Your Compost Bin

Ready to get started? First, bear in mind that you are going to need a compost bin, and depending on your capabilities, there are different kinds.

Choosing the Right Container:

Enclosed bin: Able to fit well on some small land sizes including the backyard or the patio is appropriate. These bins help you to store your compost and also protect it from pestilences.
Open-air pile: If you have a large yard here you can just begin a pile. While this methods yields large volumes of compost it is likely to attract animals.
Worm bin: Especially suitable to practice inside the home or when you have little space available. Red wigglers excel at what they do essentially ‘eating’ your scraps and producing compost for you.

Layering Green and Brown Materials:

After you get your bin, you will want to start layering your material. The first layer to be applied at the base should be a brown layer which facilitates drainage and Aeration can be produced from dried fallen leaves or cardboards. Then place green material that include vegetable peelings or grass clipping over the layer of paper. Make sure that layers of green and brown are also changing also from one another. This balance is critical for the proper decomposition of the materials that is to be accomplished in the reactor.

Maintaining the Right Moisture Level:

One final step to get your compost right is to moisten it to the density of a squeezed sponge. If it is too dry composting will be slow; if it is wet the heap begins to stink. Control the moisture level: sometimes it may dry up, in order to moist it again add more green materials or just water. If it is too wet then one should incorporates more brown items like shredded papers or straw.

Turning or Aerating the Compost:

In addition, the compost must be turned, which means that materials need to be turned – adding oxygen to the pile. Understanding that to break down the materials, the work is performed by microorganisms which require oxygen. Freighting your compost pile once in two weeks or thereabout also assists in the speeding up of the composting process and it also prevents compaction and stench.

Caring for Your Compost

Establishing a compost bin is an easy process, but maintaining the compost is where most people go wrong. There are a few things you have to watch to make sure your compost decompose well.

Monitoring Temperature and Moisture:

Your compost should feel warm at the soil surface and warmer in the middle. If it is not, then it probably requires more green materials to set the process going.” If it is too dry then it might require little more of moisture.

Adding New Materials Regularly:

This is the time to be providing fresh green and brown materials to the compost bin in a similar ratio as before. This means clients should not overuse a single material in their choice to avoid disturbing harmony within the home.

Troubleshooting Issues Like Odors or Pests:

When your compost smells, that’s a bad sign. Most of the time, it is either too wet or has the wrong materials for construction. Put more brown products and turn the pile again to improve the aeration. To mainly control pests it is recommended to avoid putting in the bin any meat, dairy products or foods containing oil and ensure that the band is well closed.

Using Your Finished Compost

It will take several months of weed, kitchen remains, grass clippings and other organic wastes to produce black, nutrient soil that will be ready to use after some maintenance. A question that naturally comes to our mind is when would such a country be considered ready for dictatorship?

Signs of Mature Compost:

Dark, crumbly texture: It should like good loamy soil and there should be an earthy smell.
Uniform appearance: Most of the original material should remain invisible, distinct.
Cool temperature: The compost should not be hot to touch since it reigns evidence that it’s through with decomposing.

Benefits of Compost for Your Garden

In the simplest of terms, compost is like the GreensSUPERFOOD for your garden. It enhances physical properties of soil, provides water supplying bodies, and contributes nutrients to the plant. Regardless of if it is flowers, vegetable or herbs that you are growing in your garden, compost will work wonders for them.

How to Incorporate Compost Into Your Garden

Apply thin layer of compost on your garden beds prior to planting manure or incorporate it into the beds. You can also use compost for covering the soil around trees and shrubs, or even for improving the potting mixture of potted plants.

Composting is an easy and enjoyable process which saves the amount of waste and enrciches the ground and the earth. Thank you for learning and engaging with this easy guide: Composting 101 We hope you found the steps presented in this guide to be straightforward and helpful when you got down to making your own compost bin or pit. That is the reason, composting always involve the use of green and brown materials and how the balance of moisture and air is managed. With a little attention and time, you will be able to feed your garden with nutrient enriched composts.

Why wait? Do not wait any longer to join the bandwagon of composting. Home composting can be done in rural residences, suburban homes or even apartment dwellers can compost their waste. I bet you’ll be surprised with how much less garbage you throw away and how happy your plants are with it!