Welcome Back
Last week I said we would talk about raised bed garden soil, but we’re actually talking compost today. We don’t need to over complicate composting. I have a quick run down on composting and what you can do to make your own.
What is Compost?
Compost is decomposed organic material that has transitioned into nutrient dense soil. It is used as a soil amendment in place of fertilizer. You mix compost into your garden soil to give your plants a boost.
Basically anything that is natural except meat, blood, dairy, and oils can go into your compost pile. You should be saving all of your food scraps and throwing them in your compost bin. Not only does this give you free valuable soil for your plants, it will also help to keep the trash pandas from knocking over your trash cans. Few, IYKYK
If you live in the city, or have limited space you may need to purchase or make a compost bin. I link to a few different style store bought compost bins below. If you have some extra space in the yard, you will be able to do some composting my favorite way, the simple way! If you have the space in your yard, it’s my opinion that the best compost piles are directly on the ground so earthworms begin breaking down the material. They are attracted to the kitchen scraps you put in the compost pile. With it being on the ground, they can easily move in on your pile and begin their work.
If you have a decent sized yard you should be able to make a pile somewhere out of the way but not too far from the house since you will need to make trips to dump your scraps. You also want the pile to be close to your garden if possible since this is where most of your compost will be used. In addition to kitchen scraps, you’re also going to save your lawn debris. Sticks, branches, leaves, grass clippings, plant waste, mulch, etc will all go into the pile from now on.
Compost consists of 2 parts:
Brown - leaves, small twigs, mulch, branches, manure***
Green - grass clippings, plants, kitchen scraps, vegetable waste, coffee grounds
*** If you add manure to your compost, do not add manure from any animals that eat meat.
Autist Note - Chickens will eat meat if you give it to them, but I doubt you will be feeding them that much meat scraps. Stick to feeding your meat and fat scraps to your dogs. Everything else goes in the compost pile.
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How to Compost
For Outdoors
They have all kinds of fancy compost plans and contraptions out there on the internet. But if you have a decent back yard, it’s not really necessary to complicate it too much. I have found the best way to compost is directly on the ground.
Find a spot close to your garden that is out of the way, and drains fairly well.
Designate this area as your compost and start piling leaves, plants, grass clippings, and a few scoops of fresh dirt.
Begin adding kitchen scraps daily. I put in our meat scraps too and my outside dog will go in the pile and get all of the meat out, in the process she mixes up the scraps and organic matter. After she gets done, my chickens scratch around the pile mixing everything up periodically throughout the day.
Take a shovel or pitchfork and turn the pile every 2 weeks, this allows air to feed the bacteria that eat up the food and turn it into good soil. This also will keep ant from starting a bed in your compost. It also keeps the pile from getting to waterlogged
After several months you should start to see some nice dark brown dirt in this area. You should be seeing lots of earthworms as well. Whenever you you can simply keep building on this pile or start you a new pile.
It’s important to note, you may want to put some type of border around your compost area to keep everything contained. When it rains, there may be some washing of the pile so it will help to build some type of barrier to contain.
For Indoors
If you are limited in space, you can definitely try out one of the compost bins you see on the internet, unfortunately, I do not have any experience with these. (Affiliate Links Ahead)
Dual Chamber Compost Tumbler - This one looks pretty cool, you can keep it on a back porch or in your garage. I like it because it’s easy to turn and keep aerated.
FCMP Outdoor HOTFROG Rolling Composter - This one looks really cool and trendy. It’s small so you could set in in the corner of your kitchen, maybe on your counter. It turns automatically, which would make it a nice conversation piece.
Vitamix 068051 FoodCycler FC-50, 2L Capacity, Grey - This one looks like a robot that stands in your kitchen. Claiming fresh compost in mere hours, I mean, if it can do this, then why can’t we have flying cars? This thing is fancy, and would never end up in my house, but I’m sure it’s pretty cool if you can afford to try it!
Redmon Since 1883 8000 Compost 65 Gallon bin, Full, Black - Last but not least is a more traditional compost bin. You could keep this on your back porch or in your small front or side yard. These are pretty straightforward.
Worm Factory 360 Black US Made Composting System for Recycling Food Waste at Home - This is another way of composting in limited spaces. It involves worms, and really opens another huge rabbit hole to go down as far as composting is concerned. The cool thing about this set up is you can actually make a composted soil and also a liquid called compost tea. You can easily add this compost tea your plants for a quick and easy boost.
Conclusion
So as you can see, I’m a fan of simplicity. Just start piling up your scraps from the kitchen and from the yard in one pile and turn it a few times a month. If you’re limited in space, try one of the items I linked to and start making your own compost right on your back porch.
That way any time you are starting new seeds or plants in your back yard or around the house, you can add some fresh compost to give your plants an extra energy boost.
So there you have it, you should always have a compost pile going now that your are becoming a Chad Gardener.
Next week we’ll start to build our raised bed plant soils.
WAGMI,
Farmer