A Basic Guide to Composting an Easy Home Recycling Project | Easy Home Recycling

A Basic Guide to Composting an Easy Home Recycling Project

If you like doing your part for the environment, you will enjoy learning the basics of composting.  We take from the land and composting is your way of giving back nutrients so we can again take what we need to survive.  A cycle that happens naturally in the wild, but we forget to duplicate in our commercial growing methods.

It is really amazing to look closely at decaying organic material.  To see how it slowly turns itself back into rich black soil, after a series of stages, some stages providing life giving nutrition to many organisms.  Then the waste produced from these organisms consuming our waste becomes nutrients for many living things.  Simply amazing.

That’s the cycle of life.  A cycle that needs our help sometimes if we are to slow the damage we are causing by our wasteful ways.  Even without our help the cycle will continue, but we may not be around to see it.  So the alternative is a simple process of composting our own organic waste to use in gardens, flower beds and house plants.  Just by collecting leaves, grass clippings, manures and other yard waste, you will have the materials for you very own compost pile.

Choosing a site for your pile should be well thought out, it should be close to your garden and a water source.  A 4-foot by 8-foot area should be sufficient.  Then contain the compost with a stiff wire fence on 3 sides leaving one side open for access to add more material and to turn the pile occasionally.

You will want to be sure and get a mixture of green and dry material layered into your compost pile, such as grass clippings then dry twigs and leaves then green garden waste (vines, lettuce, fruit and vegetable peelings) layers of old newspaper helps hold in moisture and is a great way to recycle that old news.  The best mix is one part green material to two parts dry.  Also add one part finished compost or soil for a faster start.

Your compost needs moisture to decompose at a fast rate, but the right amount of moisture is a must, too much and it cools down the pile, too little and the pile can’t heat up.  Check the moisture level once a week, you want it to feel like a damp paper towel.  If its too wet, turn in some dry leaves and wood chips.  If its too dry, just add water.

You will need to turn the pile about once a week, mixing the outer layer into the middle.  This is also the best time to check the moisture level.  Turning the pile also aerates the material, speeding up the decomposition cycle.

Following this routine will produce a rich, dark and fragrant (earthy smell) compost in 2 to 3 months.  The finished product is dark brown to black, crumbly and has no recognizable original materials.  It is now ready to add to your flower beds, garden and house plants.

If all the above sounds like too much work, just layer grass clippings, leaves and twigs in a pile along the back yard, and in 6 to 12 months the bottom and middle of the pile will be ready to use.  And you will have done your part helping the world recycle waste.  Instead of burying it all in our landfills. So give this easy home recycling progect a try.

Related Blogs

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Posted in Composting | Comments Off

Comments are closed.