Starting your own composting project can be very rewarding and has a heap of advantages. A compost heap can help you reduce your household waste production by up to 30%. By composting, you are preventing your kitchen and garden waste from ending up in a landfill. This is great for the environment and will also help you save money as you will have your own chemical-free, organic fertilizer that you can add to your garden, pot plants and planters.
While your compost is breaking down into organic fertilizer, it will become a haven for worms, insects, bacteria and fungi that will help to break down the compost. Once you add this “black gold” to your garden, you will be introducing these beneficial worms, bacteria, and fungi back into the soil of your garden, which will also help with your plants’ health and growth through the natural control of pests. An additional benefit is that it attracts beneficial insects like dark beetles and black soldier flies to your garden, turning your garden into a biodiversity hot spot!
1. Where do I place my compost heap?
The first step is to choose a suitable location. Start your compost heap on a bare piece of earth. This will allow microbes and worms to help aerate and break down the compost from the start. Choose a place away from the house, to avoid bad smells and unwelcome critters and pests coming into your house. An area that is against a wall and at least partially shaded will help to protect it against wind and help to maintain the heat in the compost heap.
If you live in an urban location like an apartment, composting outside may not be an option. There are methods of composting indoors, such as a worm composter containing red wrigglers, a compost tumbler, or an electric-assist countertop food digester. Much of the advice below will hold for using the first two alternative composting options, but a little bit of research on the pros and cons will give you the information you need to decide which indoor composting option is best for you.
2. What do I put in my compost heap?
Start your compost with twigs and straw. This will help to drain and aerate your compost. Add green and brown waste in alternating layers. Green waste is any waste that breaks down quickly and is high in water, like fruit and vegetable peelings, fresh grass clippings and cut flowers. Brown waste, like dry leaves, sticks, newspaper and cardboard, will add fibre, break down more slowly, and stabilise the composting process. There should be equal parts brown and green waste in your compost heap. Every time you add new green waste to your compost, add some brown waste over it, like dry grass clippings, to help dry it out a little and minimize bad odours. This will also reduce the attractiveness of the fresh waste for flying insects like fruit flies. You can also add lime or calcium, which will reduce odours and also discourage flies and other pests from breeding in your compost heap.
Other examples of green waste include table scraps, green leaves and lawn and garden weeds. Other examples of brown waste include coffee grounds, coffee filters, eggshells, tea bags, wood ash, wood chips, sawdust (clean and dry with no machine oil mixed in), straw and pine needles. Pine needles and citrus fruits are acidic, so add them to your compost heap in moderation.
3. What shouldn’t I put in my compost heap?
Meat or fish, bones, dairy products and anything greasy will not break down well in your compost heap and will introduce bad odours and attract pests. It is possible to buy composters that are specifically designed for this type of waste, but for a simple open garden compost heap, it is best to avoid adding these types of materials.
Be aware that some fruit peels, like banana and orange peels, may be high in pesticides. Where possible, wash them off before adding them to your compost heap.
Adding diseased or insect-ridden plants may lead to the diseases or insects spreading to the rest of your plants. It is important to take appropriate measures when dealing with pests on your plants and to avoid spreading these pests and diseases.
You can add garden weeds to your compost heap, but to ensure that you do not accidentally reintroduce the weeds and their seeds to your garden when you use your compost, make sure your compost heap is getting warm enough to kill off the seeds, around 55 to 65°C. Also, make sure to use compost that has completely broken down. Mixing your pile will also help to make sure that the seeds are in the centre of your compost heap at some point, where the heat will aid in killing off the seeds.
4. How do I keep my compost going?
Using a rake or a garden fork, turn your compost heap often, every few weeks or so, to help speed up the process of your compost heap turning into the perfect organic fertilizer. During winter, you can turn your compost less regularly so as not to lose too much heat, which is an important part of the breaking down process.
If you want to get away with a “no turning” compost heap, make sure that you add more dry, brown waste that will also provide a bit of breathing room, like sticks and straw. The compost will still break down and when you want to use it for your garden, harvest fresh compost from the bottom of the heap.
If you find your compost is getting too dry, sprinkle a bit of water when you turn your compost heap. If you start noticing unpleasant odours or that your compost is too wet, add more dry, brown waste and turn your compost heap.
5. When can I use my compost as organic fertilizer?
The most important step of all, however, is to be patient. It takes time, sometimes up to a year, for everything to break down and for the compost to be useable.
If you want to speed up the process, you can also activate your compost by adding either an organic fertilizer or a couple of shovels of finished compost from another compost pile. You can also buy activators or inoculants from your local gardening shop. By starting with an organic fertilizer or finished compost as your foundation, you will be introducing all of the good bacteria and fungus that you want to get your compost heap started. This will also help to attract the insects and worms that will also be working through your compost heap materials.
Another way to make sure your compost heap can break everything down in a speedier manner is to reduce the size of the materials that you are adding to your compost heap. If you add corn cobs for example, or large vegetables, it is best to chop them up into smaller pieces first. The same goes for twigs, sticks and bits of wood. Smaller pieces will break down faster and mix more easily when you turn your compost.