How to Start Composting

What is something every great garden should have?! A COMPOST PILE!!

Why is that you may be asking yourself? Because the process of composting makes nutrient-rich soil that is essentially food for your veggies. It makes your garden happy and healthy! And is always a great way to recycle!

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Don’t forget to do your part in saving the earth!!

Composting is EASY! And yes you can do it too! You are gonna OWN at that garden life! See what I did there?! heh heh

Compost Bins

There are many different types of compost bin designs out there. You can purchase plastic ones from the store or online, they even have ones that turn the compost for you. How awesome is that?! Or you can make one yourself, which is always fun.

We happen to have found one. Our compost bin is a black plastic thing that has a lid on top and a door at the bottom that you can lift up and scoop out the gold.

One of my dad’s lucky finds, which he always seems to find. He is not above picking things up off the side of the road or out of a dumpster. And you shouldn’t be either! Its sometimes a great money saver and makes the best items for the garden.

Just look at our handmade cucumber lattice. My dad found the metal frame from a dumpster. It looks to have been a sales rack from a retail store. MAJOR game change in our cucumber stock.

What goes into your compost

Every compost should have Brown Materials and Green Materials. Anything that is put into the compost should be broken down into small pieces, to help speed up the process.

Brown Materials

• dried leaves
• shredded newspaper
• toilet/paper towel rolls
• hay/straw

Green Materials

• fruits
• vegetables
• coffee grounds
• tea bags
• eggshells
• grass

Cat Lovers Collection

You want to layer these alternately. They both have different jobs that they do within the pile. The brown materials are your carbon materials and the green is your nitrogen. You need both for a healthy and balanced compost.

You do NOT want to add anything that is on the no no list

Use my list of Composting Dos & Dont’s, by signing up for our newsletter! It’ll make for easy reference when adding to your pile!

Free Printable- Composting Dos & Donts

Composting 50-Plant Garden Tower
from: Garden Tower Project

Do NOT put these in your compost

• meat
• oil
• seafood
• cheese/milk products
• animal waste
• bones
• bread

Where to put your Composting Pile

Make sure you find a nice spot to place your compost pile. You dont need a whole lot of room. A couple square feet will do.

It should be more on the dry side with proper drainage and plenty of shade. Having little to no drainage and having it bake in the sun can cause molding. You don’t want that.

Taking Care of your Compost

You will need to water your compost regularly so that it can break down your materials. But make sure its not too wet though, you want just a little bit of drippage when the soil is squeezed.

Turn your compost using a shovel or pitchfork about once a week. This helps speed up the process of your materials breaking down by adding oxygen into the mix.

Just remember that this will take a while to “cook” as they say. Weeks even. Be sure to stop adding to your pile or bin weeks before you want to use it, to allow it to fully break down into the fabulous gold it is. Start up a new composting pile in the meantime.

Thats it! I told you it was easy! Enjoy your compost dirt and see the magic that unfolds with your plants!