Making Your Own Compost

Why?
Organic gardening compost solves many problems. So much so that it's tempting to wax philosophical on the merits of making compost. Compost isn't just a gardening topic. It relates to conserving energy, reducing pollution, protecting the environment, feeding the hungry, reducing waste ... and we could go on. See what I mean about philosophical?

Many times, maybe even most times, valuable organic gardening compost is made from household waste that would end up in a landfill. Now that's a waste ... burying valuable raw materials in expensive landfill space.

In many cases, there is little you as an individual can do to solve many of the social ills of our day. Making compost is a small step you can take to make a valuable product from waste. Now that's a good deal!

Build compost in large quantities and you'll become a famous gardener in your neighborhood. It's easy to build compost, but to build the very best product requires both knowledge and skill. Building great compost is part science and part art. It's work, but it's rewarding and fun too.

Composting is a process of decomposition. Bacteria, fungi, nematodes, worms, and all kinds of tiny critters work on organic matter to break it down. This happens slowly in a natural environment. Compost makers can speed up that natural process to quickly make superior compost in large quantities.

Build compost properly and you can add nutrients and stable humus to the soil. Compost improves water holding capacity. It encourages the formation of beneficial soil-borne organisms. It also makes soil nutrients more available. Organic gardening compost is useful when starting and planting. It's helpful for general soil improvement. It improves annual flowers and vegetables; perennials; shrubs; small fruit; fruit trees; lawns. You can use it as mulch and as compost tea. It helps potted plants and seedlings.

But how do you get started?

Getting Started.
Build compost so it has contact with the soil or mix soil with the compost material. The organisms in the soil contact the compost pile and enter into the process. A well built pile doesn't attract pests, nor smell bad.

Bins are helpful to contain the materials, but not at all necessary. Prepare an area for accumulation of the raw materials for the compost pile. Look at your accumulation of raw materials like a savings account ... that's what it is! Try to have more than one pile in the process of composting too.

What goes in the compost piles? The supply of compost materials is limitless. Anything that is biodegradable and contains things usable and available to microorganisms can be composted.

The materials.
Build compost with two categories of materials: high carbon materials and high nitrogen materials. The two categories overlap. The ideal carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) for stimulating the composting organisms is 25:1 - 30:1. Finished compost is 14:1 - 20:1. Don't get overly concerned with these numbers!

High carbon materials are usually dry and bulky. Examples are hay, straw, fall leaves, sawdust, pine needles. The C/N ratio varies from 500:1 for sawdust to 12:1 for alfalfa hay.

High nitrogen materials include manures, grass clippings, table scraps, fish meal, cottonseed meal and soybean meal.

Other useful additives can bolster the micro-nutrients of the finished compost. Examples are rock dust, limestone, seaweed, rock phosphate, greensand, and wood ashes.

The mix.We're trying to start and maintain a controlled aerobic fermentation process when we build compost. Generally, if we mix roughly equal parts of high carbon materials and high nitrogen materials, the C/N ratio will be about right.

In living topsoil, only about half the total volume of the soil is solid. The remainder is air and water. Our organic gardening compost should be like that too. So the particle size of our material is best fairly fine. Grind or chip very coarse materials like corn stalks if you can. If you can't, don't worry about it, it'll just take longer. Particle size should be from dust-like up to 1/2 inch in size.

The pile should be moist. Moist to the touch, but not so wet that you can squeeze water out by hand.

Layer in the materials alternating high carbon materials with high nitrogen materials. Add 5 - 10 percent garden soil throughout the pile. Layers can be 6 inches deep or so. Build compost piles 7 - 10 feet wide at the bottom sloping to 1 - 3 feet wide at the top. Keep the height at about 3 - 4 feet and the length a minimum of 3 feet.

Fermentation.
Build compost piles well and microorganisms grow rapidly and temperature will quickly climb. Temperatures may spike up to 170 degrees F over a few days or weeks. Then the temperature will drop off and remain elevated for a few days or up to several weeks or even months. Turning the pile can speed or slow the reactions especially if the mix is less than ideal. If the mix is right, the pile need not be turned or it may need turning only once.

Never fear, even if conditions are far from ideal you'll still get usable compost. Remember, this is a natural process. You really can't do it all wrong. If the pile doesn't heat up much, it'll take longer to decompose and the quality may be inferior. Maybe weed seeds will still be viable. It will still do the soil good!

Conclusion
Build organic gardening compost well and vastly improve your gardening success. Making compost is fun and a valuable skill. It's art for your garden!

By: Al Bullington
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Al Bullington is a former automotive engineer who enjoys a rural lifestyle with his family. He's an avid compost maker and gardener.