Compost

Creating your own compost is very rewarding. It is good for the environment by reducing the waste from your yard and kitchen. You will need space, water, air, and organic material. In the yard you will use leaves, grass, bush and tree clippings. In the kitchen you can use coffee grounds, egg shells and vegetable and fruit peels.

Outside compost

It is recommended to have an area of 3 ft. X 3 ft. and 3 ft. deep. You can buy a compost bin or use a ventilated plastic tub. You can also square off the area and use garden posts and some kind of wire to contain the waste. Green waste is green plants, grass clippings and kitchen waste. Green waste is high in nitrogen. Brown waste is leaves, sawdust and wood chips and is high in carbon. What is added to the compost should be only 2 to 3 in. long to break down faster. Once it is started, the creatures from worms to microbes are attracted to the pile to carry out the conversion of waste into compost.

To speed up the process you can buy compost or manure from a garden center. The compost will also move along faster with more brown waste. If brown waste is not available, paper products can be used like paper bags and packaging.

The compost pile needs to be turned once a week to activate the decomposition process. The compost should be ready in 4 to 6 weeks.

Inside Compost

You can still start a compost while living in an apartment or condominium. You will need a 35 gallon plastic tub and a half-cup of worms. The worms can be purchased from a bait shop. Red wrigglers or African nightcrawlers seem to work best. Add your kitchen waste along with any indoor or patio plants. There is no odor and no need to stir regularly, since the worms do all the work. You will only need to stir the worm casings in when you see them.

You can use vegetable and fruit peelings, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea leaves, paper bags and non-plastic egg cartons. You cannot use large amounts of citrus peelings, meat and fish, dairy products, plastic, glass or cans.

Compost Tea

You will need some compost (you can use partially decomposed compost) and an old pair of pantyhose or cheesecloth and a 1-5 gallon bucket of water. Fill the pantyhose or cheesecloth with the compost and tie closed. Place the mixture in the water and dunk several times. Let the mixture brew overnight, remove the compost and stir. You can now water your plants at full strength or dilute the mixture.

You can tell by the look and smell of the compost when the process is done. It will look like dark rich soil and smell very earthy. It is now ready to spread around your garden and plants. It helps the soil retain water and is nutrient rich, so you will need to water and fertilize less.