compost and you, a love story
imagine you and some compost looking out at a sunset. i wanted to have a pretty photo of compost but i don’t currently have one. on the to do list.
Composting is a medium science.
Theoretic composting is very easy, you save your leftover food goodies (we will clarify and classify later, fun, I know!) and then you mix ‘em up with some other stuff, add some water, warmth and- PRESTO! Garden happiness!
To be honest it is a smidge more complicated and can make you a bit nutty. So let’s take the hard parts out and make it super simple. Simple is best. I would have to say that I personally love hard work. Not like hard math problems or anything like that, but manual labor and I are buddies. It helps me keep my mind occupied so I don’t veer off into the “what-if” rabbit hole that is always lurking about.
Not everyone is like this, I get that. My husband doesn’t gleefully ask what closet he can help sort out, it’s just not his jam. It is 1000% my jam. I love jam, especially strawberry. He actually doesn’t even like jam. Crazy.
So let’s start in the compost beginning. where you gonna put this stuff?
Most people will buy containers by using the amount of their output as their main deciding point. But for this particular situation it is probably best to choose the amount of space you have available at your current location. I have a pretty big yard, with a perfect space for a large pile/bin, I actually have two piles and a small rotating composter that I fill up in a few weeks, but it is nice in the winter when I don’t want to venture out into the deep snow.
Composter options:
Build a compost bin in your yard- best for big ol’ yards
Patio composter- best for small yards or patios- amazon has loads of them
Worm composter- anyone can have these little guys- I’m getting ready to make one
Farmer Pirates! (not a bin, but it is a really cool option.)*
the death star- aka my mini composter and a dead lavender plant
We will discuss how to build them very soon, as I am giving one of my piles a makeover, and will have loads of photos to share.
*Farmer Pirates are a service that comes and takes your compost away! it isn’t very expensive either. They even give the option of giving you some compost back if you’d like it. super cool. I know that you may not live in the Buffalo NY region, so you may have to google compost pick up near you.
Okay, you have a bin, it’s pretty and ready to go. Time to fill her up.
There are different rules for different bins and I will give you the basics and then if you need more direction we can get more detailed. What you put in it is always the same, green group and brown group. The ratios will differ.
Team Green:
fruit and veggie scraps- everything is welcome! feel free to chop it up
tea bags (natural not synthetic bags)
coffee grounds and filters
egg shells
grass clippings
chicken & rabbit poop
weeds that haven’t gone to seed
algae
Team Brown:
dead leaves from the fall
newspaper, shredded paper, cardboard
thin sticks- broken up please
dead plants
deciduous wood ash
Team No Thanks:
don’t put these things in your compost bin, please
cat, dog or human poop- eww gross
cat litter
dairy of any sort- you’ll invite unwanted digging and rodents
meat or bones of any kind- also a rodent or trash panda issue
glossy magazine paper
diseased plants
weeds that have gone to seed
All that is left is to put them in your bin, how you choose to do it is simple.
There is a specific formula for worm bins. I am gonna talk about that in a later post, and show you how to build your own- pretty cool.
If you have a rotating composter, you need to add the ingredients in a 40/60 ration 40 green, 60 brown. this is because there is less evaporation of the water from the foods in the green section so you will need to add less. you Will need to check that everything is breaking down well, by taking a peek every now and again. watering when needed and adding paper if too wet.
If you have a backyard bin i suggest having a leaf pile if possible next to it. This way you can do the lasagna method of composting which i think is the easiest.
the leaf pile- its a hot mess
You layer the browns and the greens, hit it withe hose if it has been super dry. Put a tarp on it if you want, or don’t. It’s easy peasy lemon squeezy. Then after a while you can move it around and shake it up. Get some air in there and hit it again with the hose.
brown, green, brown, green, brown, green, brown, green, brown, green, water, donezo.
the beginning of the compost pile- she needs some work
Here is the thing about composting, gardening, anything really, if you want to make it wild and detailed and scientific, go for it! If you don’t, don’t! This is about what makes you happy. Although if you go super easy and carefree then it will probably not give you the highest yeilds and you will just have to accept that. I feel like a medium amount of science is best. Medium is just a great place to be.
We have covered the where, the what, the how, who seems a bit on the nose, it’s you, the when is easy too, all the time that your area isn’t frozen. I do still compost in the winter but that is a whole different thing. Which we can discuss when we get closer to winter.
The big ask is the why. Why bother? Why should I? For the answer to that please read my “Why You Should Compost & Other Preachy Shit I Say” post. Promise it is only mildly preachy. To sum it up: it’s bad to put organic materials in the landfill, it’s good to feed plants for free, and you should just do it, stop being lazy.
It is very helpful to have an indoor bucket or two to help the compost voyage along. When I a preparing a huge vegetable stir fry in the summer it is easy to just make a quick trip to the heap. but in the morning with my coffee grounds it is a pain to make the trip just for that. I have a small bucket that I keep near my garbage can that I fill up with all the bits and bobs from everyday life, coffee grounds, apple cores, tea bags, carrot tips. That way i don’t get lazy and drop them into the garbage can.
Real talk here. you in love? I am. It’s a really neat idea that my old apple bits will feed me over and over and over again. It makes me feel lucky that I get to help it on its voyage to be the best apple it could be. Is that cheesy? maybe. But I’m good with that.
