By: Douglas Hill

The concept of composting has been around for quite a long time in the forests. Leaves fall to the forest floor, decompose, and their nutrients will be absorbed back into the trees through the roots. Farmers and Gardeners have been taking advantage of the nutrient rich by product from this decomposition for thousands of years and you can too.

Composting is a great way to add nutrients to your garden or potting soil. Not only is it good for your garden and plants, it also is a good way for you to help reduce your overall garbage going to the dump. There are no hard and fast rules in what you should do your composting in. In fact you could do it in a pile in the yard, although it will probably not be well accepted by the rest of your family. While you can go out and buy a commercially sold unit that will do well for all your composting needs, I prefer to save a few bucks and build one myself.

The real hero’s in the world of composting are the fungi, bacteria, worms and other insects that will take your yard and kitchen waste and turn it into the black gold you want for your pots and garden. Now it is in your best interest to keep these guys in good conditions so they can digest the food you give them. Their basic requirements are just like you and I, they are food, water, and air. If you want to help these insects and microbes along, keep your compost in a nice cool corner of your yard.

To better understand these basic needs for your compost let’s start with the food. Essentially there are two types of food. There are the brown foods that include straw, autumn leaves, wood chips/sawdust, and dead plant material. These materials mainly consist of long chains of sugar molecules that the microbes digest and use as a source of energy. There are also the greens such as green grass and weeds, kitchen fruit and vegetables, coffee grounds, and tea bags. These materials have a lot more nitrogen in them than the browns. This nitrogen in your compost pile acts as a source of protein to all those microbes for them to feed off of as well.

The next part is the air. It is very important to get good airflow into your pile. The microbes you want to decompose your pile cannot do this without air. If there is no air supply then other microbes will move in. They will also do the job but they work a lot slower and tend to make the compost smell like rotten garbage. So unless you want your backyard to smell like the city dump you will have it “fluff” your pile. “Fluffing” your pile is easily done with a spade or a garden fork. You will have to completely break it apart and then pile it back together leaving it in a “Fluffy” condition.

Some “food” like grass clippings or wet leaves will sit heavy on the pile and not allow good air flow through that portion of the pile. You should mix this sort of ingredient into the pile to avoid a spot that won’t decompose very easily. Straw is a great ingredient to add to your compost because unlike grass they will not mat down into slimy layers and add to the airflow.

Water is the last important ingredient in your compost. This is where it gets a little tricky. You need to get the water just right to aid and not hinder the work of the microbes. Too wet and the pile gets too heavy and the airflow gets cut off to the middle of the pile. Too dry and the microbes will not be able to break down the waste as easily. Ideally you want to get every particle wet but not saturated. In wet climates you may need a lid or a tarp to avoid saturation.

Having a good mix of the greens and browns is a good thing for a few reasons. Not only does it supply all your little microbes with a good diet, but it also helps in airflow since the browns are dry and “light” and the greens are wet and “heavy”.

By: Robert

pt of composting has been around for quite a long time in the forests. Leaves fall to the forest floor, decompose, and their nutrients will be absorbed back into the trees through the roots. Farmers and Gardeners have been taking advantage of the nutrient rich by product from this decomposition for thousands of years and you can too. Composting is a great way to add nutrients to your garden or potting soil. Not only is it good for your garden and plants, it also is a good way for you to help reduce your overall garbage going to the dump. There are no hard and fast rules in what you should do your composting in. In fact you could do it in a pile in the yard, although it will probably not be well accepted by the rest of your family. While you can go out and buy a commercially sold unit that will do well for all your composting needs, I prefer to save a few bucks and build one myself. The real hero’s in the world of composting are the fungi, bacteria, worms and other insects that will take your yard and kitchen waste and turn it into the black gold you want for your pots and garden. Now it is in your best interest to keep these guys in good conditions so they can digest the food you give them. Their basic requirements are just like you and I, they are food, water, and air. If you want to help these insects and microbes along, keep your compost in a nice cool corner of your yard. To better understand these basic needs for your compost let’s start with the food. Essentially there are two types of food. There are the brown foods that include straw, autumn leaves, wood chips/sawdust, and dead plant material. These materials mainly consist of long chains of sugar molecules that the microbes digest and use as a source of energy. There are also the greens such as green grass and weeds, kitchen fruit and vegetables, coffee grounds, and tea bags. These materials have a lot more nitrogen in them than the browns. This nitrogen in your compost pile acts as a source of protein to all those microbes for them to feed off of as well. The next part is the air. It is very important to get good airflow into your pile. The microbes you want to decompose your pile cannot do this without air. If there is no air supply then other microbes will move in. They will also do the job but they work a lot slower and tend to make the compost smell like rotten garbage. So unless you want your backyard to smell like the city dump you will have it “fluff” your pile. “Fluffing” your pile is easily done with a spade or a garden fork. You will have to completely break it apart and then pile it back together leaving it in a “Fluffy” condition. Some “food” like grass clippings or wet leaves will sit heavy on the pile and not allow good air flow through that portion of the pile. You should mix this sort of ingredient into the pile to avoid a spot that won’t decompose very easily. Straw is a great ingredient to add to your compost because unlike grass they will not mat down into slimy layers and add to the airflow. Water is the last important ingredient in your compost. This is where it gets a little tricky. You need to get the water just right to aid and not hinder the work of the microbes. Too wet and the pile gets too heavy and the airflow gets cut off to the middle of the pile. Too dry and the microbes will not be able to break down the waste as easily. Ideally you want to get every particle wet but not saturated. In wet climates you may need a lid or a tarp to avoid saturation. Having a good mix of the greens and browns is a good thing for a few reasons. Not only does it supply all your little microbes with a good diet, but it also helps in airflow since the browns are dry and “light” and the greens are wet and “heavy”.

By: Ellen Bell

If you have recently purchased a compost tumbler bin, let me be the first to say congratulations!  You’ve just taken the first step toward aerobic composting.  What is aerobic composting, you ask, and why is it so great?  In this article, we’ll explain how aerobic composting works and what you need to do to get started.

There are two main types of composting, aerobic and anaerobic.  Anaerobic composting basically consists of piling up a bunch of organic materials, then letting them sit and rot.  Pretty gross, huh?  Well truthfully, yes, it is.  Anaerobic bacteria are slow and inefficient, which means that your compost pile will have to sit there for at least a year, maybe longer, before the materials at the very bottom are fully composted.  Second of all, microbes that do the decaying in anaerobic composting produce methane and sulfate gasses as a byproduct, something which we humans find very offensive.  If you’ve always thought of composting as a smelly and gross process, now is the time to make an important clarification: it’s anaerobic composting that’s a smelly and gross process.

Aerobic composting is an entirely different process.  Just as the name would suggest, aerobic composting requires air, specifically oxygen, to complete its process.  Aerobic bacteria are very efficient.  They break down organic matter very rapidly, often times completing the full composting process in less than 6 weeks.  Furthermore, aerobic microbes don’t give off smelly gasses, which means that aerobic composting is a virtually odorless process!

At this point, we’re sure that you’ll agree, aerobic composting is the preferable method.  With that having been said, where do you begin?  This brings us back to the compost tumbler.  A compost tumbler bin is the best way to get started with aerobic composting.  Usually designed in a cylindrical shape, compost tumblers spin on an axis, tumbling the materials inside and providing the necessary oxygen for aerobic composting to occur.  While it is possible to construct your own compost tumbler, the process isn’t easy and you may find that you’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration by purchasing a ready to assemble unit.  Compost tumbler bins are readily available for purchase through online and catalog stores and many can be assembled in minutes.

Once you’ve got your new compost tumbler bin set up, you’re ready to begin aerobic composting!  The first step is to add the materials to be composted.  First and foremost, it is not advisable to put any meat or dairy products (including egg yolks) into an aerobic composter unit, because these will produce foul odors as they break down, thereby defeating your goal of odor-free composting.  Vegetable peelings, old bread, cooked rice, pasta, and other similar kitchen scraps can and should be added to an aerobic compost bin.  Houseplant trimmings, lint from the dryer, floor sweepings, and pet hair are also things that can be put in a composter.  From the outdoors, there are a multitude of items that can be composted such as yard trimmings, dead leaves, grass clippings, dead flowers, etc.  Other things that can be added to your compost tumbler include pencil shavings, sawdust, chopped up hay or straw, and aquarium plants.  When you first begin using your new composter, you need to build up adequate bacteria levels to break the materials down.  To this end, it’s a good idea to add some bulking materials in the beginning, such as peat moss or already finished compost, if you have a source for getting some.

With a little time and effort, you’ll have finished compost readily available from your aerobic compost bin.  This finished compost can be tilled into your garden soil or added to the topsoil around existing plants as a fertilizer.  You’ll soon begin to see the results that compost has on a garden with bigger plants, more flowers, and larger harvests of vegetables.  So what are you waiting for?  Start composting today!

stimpy asked:


I’m tampering around with my aerated hot composting method, and cat litter has always been on the big list of No-No ingredients. I would assume this is due to the generally store-bought litter composition, and the toxoplasmosis microbes. Assuming you use a pine litter, would it be possible to chuck the litter in a 3-5% peroxide solution for a day, sun-dry, then add to the heap?? I happen to have some pharm grade peroxide, so I can go as high as needed. Or, perhaps a mild bleach solution followed by proper evaporation?

By: Ellen Bell

If you have recently purchased a compost tumbler bin, let me be the first to say congratulations!  You’ve just taken the first step toward aerobic composting.  What is aerobic composting, you ask, and why is it so great?  In this article, we’ll explain how aerobic composting works and what you need to do to get started.

There are two main types of composting, aerobic and anaerobic.  Anaerobic composting basically consists of piling up a bunch of organic materials, then letting them sit and rot.  Pretty gross, huh?  Well truthfully, yes, it is.  Anaerobic bacteria are slow and inefficient, which means that your compost pile will have to sit there for at least a year, maybe longer, before the materials at the very bottom are fully composted.  Second of all, microbes that do the decaying in anaerobic composting produce methane and sulfate gasses as a byproduct, something which we humans find very offensive.  If you’ve always thought of composting as a smelly and gross process, now is the time to make an important clarification: it’s anaerobic composting that’s a smelly and gross process.

Aerobic composting is an entirely different process.  Just as the name would suggest, aerobic composting requires air, specifically oxygen, to complete its process.  Aerobic bacteria are very efficient.  They break down organic matter very rapidly, often times completing the full composting process in less than 6 weeks.  Furthermore, aerobic microbes don’t give off smelly gasses, which means that aerobic composting is a virtually odorless process!

At this point, we’re sure that you’ll agree, aerobic composting is the preferable method.  With that having been said, where do you begin?  This brings us back to the compost tumbler.  A compost tumbler bin is the best way to get started with aerobic composting.  Usually designed in a cylindrical shape, compost tumblers spin on an axis, tumbling the materials inside and providing the necessary oxygen for aerobic composting to occur.  While it is possible to construct your own compost tumbler, the process isn’t easy and you may find that you’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration by purchasing a ready to assemble unit.  Compost tumbler bins are readily available for purchase through online and catalog stores and many can be assembled in minutes.

Once you’ve got your new compost tumbler bin set up, you’re ready to begin aerobic composting!  The first step is to add the materials to be composted.  First and foremost, it is not advisable to put any meat or dairy products (including egg yolks) into an aerobic composter unit, because these will produce foul odors as they break down, thereby defeating your goal of odor-free composting.  Vegetable peelings, old bread, cooked rice, pasta, and other similar kitchen scraps can and should be added to an aerobic compost bin.  Houseplant trimmings, lint from the dryer, floor sweepings, and pet hair are also things that can be put in a composter.  From the outdoors, there are a multitude of items that can be composted such as yard trimmings, dead leaves, grass clippings, dead flowers, etc.  Other things that can be added to your compost tumbler include pencil shavings, sawdust, chopped up hay or straw, and aquarium plants.  When you first begin using your new composter, you need to build up adequate bacteria levels to break the materials down.  To this end, it’s a good idea to add some bulking materials in the beginning, such as peat moss or already finished compost, if you have a source for getting some.

With a little time and effort, you’ll have finished compost readily available from your aerobic compost bin.  This finished compost can be tilled into your garden soil or added to the topsoil around existing plants as a fertilizer.  You’ll soon begin to see the results that compost has on a garden with bigger plants, more flowers, and larger harvests of vegetables.  So what are you waiting for?  Start composting today!