Make Your Own Compost

You might be surprised at how much every day kitchen garbage can be composted, including lots of stuff that usually goes down the drain. Keep a covered receptacle under the sink or some other handy place to toss all your peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds and so on. Make your compost bin and toss your kitchen scraps into it every day.

Composting is a good way to make use of table, fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, coffee ground, tea bags, green leaves, and grass clippings which are all nitrogen rich. Carbon rich materials are dry leaves, pine needles,and plant stalks, wood shavings, small twigs, and shredded newspaper. Instead of leaving them bagged on the curb, make good use of them by composting.

Carbon is the spark that starts the composting process, and nitrogen provides the fuel microorganisms required to decompose materials. Add about three times as many brown materials as green material. Never compost meat, animal waste, bones, dairy products or diseased plants, seeded weeds, plants sprayed with herbicides, or any inorganic material.

Nothing is better for your garden than beautiful black compost. Plants thrive on compost and will pay you in good measure with delicious produce. No frugal gardener would turn down the gift of food and that’s what you do when you place bags of grass clippings, trimmings or leaves on the curb. All this good stuff rots and makes compost, it’s that simple.

To make your compost bin, go to a lumber yard and select 5 pallets. They are usually free for the asking. Lay one on the ground, bolt on the four sides and start composting. Chop garden clippings by running over them with a mower that has a bag attachment, or rake them into a bag. Layer or mix fresh green material and brown dry material. Toss in all your kitchen scraps and spray with water to be sure materials are damp but not soggy. Keep adding material as it accumulates. Turn the pile once a week to blend it all together and damp it down. Remember to use three times the brown material as green and you are on your way to rich compost.