How to Make Successful Compost

Submitted by Alexandria Ducksworth

Looking forward to a healthy harvest? Make your own natural compost for an extra boost! All you need is your kitchen scraps and more to get started.

Here’s how to make successful compost:

1. Plan stationary or rotating compost

There are two ways of making compost: Stationary and rotating. Stationary compost is set in one pile in your garden area. Make sure you build a fence around it or keep it in a ventilated container from pesky critters.

Rotating compost is set in a tumbler . Not only animals won’t be able to mess with it, it’ll be easier to mix up to keep it fresh. With a stationary compost, you must mix it with a shovel or a garden fork.

2. Gather the right compost ingredients

“Green” and “brown” are two types of ingredients used to make compost.

Examples of “green” ingredients include:
-Grass and hedge clippings
-Algae
-Vegetable/fruit scraps
-Alfalfa

Examples of “brown ingredients:
-Peat moss
-Old newspapers
-Straw
-Cardboard (not dyed)

Don’t add these ingredients to your compost or you’ll wind up with an unhealthy heap:
-Meat
-Dairy products
-Pet waste
-Sickly plants
-Animal bones

Check out this extensive site for more acceptable compost materials.

3. Check your compost weekly

Is your compost slimy? Add more “brown” compost ingredients to the mix. If it doesn’t look like it’s breaking down at any point, add more “green” to it. You can add red wiggler worms to expedite the breakdown process further.

4. Compost is ready!

Your compost should ready to use when the ingredients are entirely broken down and has an earthy scent to it.

For further information on compost, read Chris McLaughlin’s The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Composting and watch The Perfect Compost DVD.

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