A Guide to getting your Compost on!

[Rachel Butler]

According to the United States EPA, yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 26 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. That's a lot of waste to send to landfills when it could become useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead! Sometimes it's hard to know how to get started! Here is a quick guide to getting started! (thanks to NB Canada). Also visit the www.composting101.com and the EPA site : http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/composting/index.htm

1. Gather both "green" and "brown" ingredients, enough to make a compost pile measuring at least 3 feet in each direction (high, wide and long). In the pic below, we are in my permaculture class taught by Dick Pierce cutting up our greens.

   

   A smaller pile won't generate or retain enough heat to effectively kill any harmful bacteria present. If you choose healthy ingredients to compost, and keep pets and pests out, there's no reason for concern. A much larger pile is more likely to compact, shutting out air, and is more difficult to work with.
   
   
   
2. Chop or shred into small pieces as much of the material as possible. Dry materials like leaves can be run through a shredder or under a lawn mower. Shredded materials make a better home for decomposer organisms, with more surface area for them to work on. A shredded pile is also better insulated, has more pockets for air and retains moisture more easily. The finer the pieces, the faster your compost will be finished.
   
   
3. Layer 6 inches of well-watered "browns" and 6 inches of "greens," mixing the two layers together. We used shipping pallets for the bottom and side walls of our pile. A great way to reuse what was available to us.
   

   

   
   
4. Alternate and mix layers of each type of material, adding water as needed, until the pile is at least 3 feet high. Adding the material in layers simply helps you judge the right proportions of "brown" and "green." But everything should then be thoroughly combined to compost efficiently.
   
   
   
   

   

   
   
5. Cover the pile to protect it from heavy rain, and wait. The compost should begin to heat up within hours.
   
   To witness decomposition in action, you can stick a metal rod into the center of the pile for a few minutes, then check if it has warmed up. Compost thermometers are available at garden centers, or you can mount a meat thermometer at the end of a stick, if you want precise temperature readings. Vapor emerging from aeration holes, and a fine grey fungus just under the surface, are other good signs of an active hot compost.

   

It really is very simple to put a compost pile together. Just gather up your greens and browns and go for it!

Keep it green!
Rache